Bank Holiday in Honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III
North Lanarkshire Council · 1 March 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 1 March 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance & Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref: FW/LC Date 01/03/23 Bank Holiday in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III From Fiona Whittaker, Chief Officer People Resources E-mail Whittakerf@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07973 728628 Executive Summary Both the UK and Scottish Government have proclaimed a bank holiday in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. The bank holiday will take place on Monday 8 May 2023 following the Coronation on Saturday 6 May 2023. The purpose of the additional bank holiday is to allow for a three-day weekend that will give families and communities across the country the opportunity to come together to celebrate. The Scottish Government have stated that the ‘Coronation will be a historic moment for Scotland’ and the Scottish Government want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to join in the celebrations. The additional bank holiday is in line with what happened at the time of the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Coronation. In relation to schools and early years establishments, Scottish Ministers have confirmed their view that it is important that families in Scotland are able to participate in the Coronation celebrations and are supportive of the additional bank holiday becoming a school holiday. Although there has been no instruction to close schools or any other local authority services, there will be an expectation that many workers will be afforded the opportunity to have the day off. The purpose of this report is to ask the Finance & Resources Committee to consider the implications of the additional holiday on service provision and to agree the principles around the application of the additional bank holiday. Recommendations The Finance & Resources Committee are asked to: 1. Note the formal announcement of a bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023 to allow people to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. 2. Agree to the closure of all schools and nursery establishments on Monday 8 May 2023. 3. Consider and agree the wider extent of closure of the Council on Monday 8 May 2023. 4. Note that to enable this, we will apply for the statutory schooling days for pupils in North Lanarkshire Council to be reduced to 188 days from 190 days in session
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1. Background 1.1 On 6 November 2022, both the UK and Scottish Government announced that there would be an additional bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023 following the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday 6 May 2023. 1.2 The Scottish Government have advised that the introduction of the additional bank holiday, will result in a three-day Coronation Weekend that will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to celebrate the Coronation. 1.3 For clarification, bank holidays (although not normally recognised by the Council) are holidays when banks and many other businesses are closed for the day. Public holidays are holidays which have been observed by custom and practice, i.e. Christmas Day and Easter. 1.4 As outlined above, the Council does not refer to, nor normally recognise bank holidays, but in these exceptional circumstances, the rules and procedures around public holidays should apply to the declared bank holiday. 1.5 As an individual employer, the Council does have the option to designate the day as an additional day of annual leave, rather than a public holiday. Awarding an extra day’s annual leave would be less costly for those essential services who must run on that day, however it is deemed that it would not be appropriate under the circumstances to take this approach. 1.6 As this is an exceptional and unprecedented circumstance, we also expect that trade unions and employee’s expectations will be that the day will be acknowledged as a bank holiday and therefore the rules around public holidays will apply to those who are required to work. 2. Report 2.1 Legal Position 2.1.1. The Scotland Act 1998 gives Scottish Ministers the responsibility for setting bank holidays (Part II of Schedule 5). The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 provides the statutory basis for UK bank holidays; and Schedule 1 to the Act prescribes Scottish bank holidays. Special days can be appointed under the 1971 Act as bank holidays (either additional or in place of bank holidays which fall on a Saturday or Sunday) subject to Royal Proclamation each year. On 6 November 2023, both the Scottish and UK Government announced an additional bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023. 2022/23. (This is due to the additional bank holiday for the Queen’s Funeral on 19 September 2022 and this additional day) 5. Agree the principles around the application of the bank holiday within the Council. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (23) Build a workforce for the future capable of delivering on our priorities and shared ambition
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2.1.2 There is no statutory right for employees to take public holidays off work. Any right to time off depends on the terms of the employee’s contract of employment. If the contract of employment entitles the worker to a specified number of days' holiday inclusive of bank and public holidays, then the additional holiday will have no effect on the overall contractual entitlement. If the contract entitles the worker to a specified number of days’ holiday plus all recognised bank and public holidays, they will be contractually entitled to the additional day. 2.1.3 As contracts of employment within the Council outline the number of days leave inclusive of public holidays, which are clearly specified, there is no contractual entitlement to the additional days leave. It is the decision of the Council as to whether to award the additional day as a bank holiday or annual leave day. 2.1.4 The conditions that govern single status staff (known as the Red book) state that general and public holidays recognised by the Council for its employees will be granted as holidays with pay and that by local agreement some of these may be added to annual leave. 2.2 Proposal 2.2.1 It is proposed that an additional day’s leave is awarded to all employees of North Lanarkshire Council in the form of a bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023, allowing the Council to close on this day. 2.2.2 However, unlike other public holidays where some services operate, it is proposed that the Council closes all services, except those which are deemed essential to support the residents of North Lanarkshire. This will allow for as many employees as possible to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. 2.2.3 During both the Queen’s Jubilee holiday and state funeral bank holiday, our Waste Services remained open, alongside our essential Health and Social Care services, and a decision will need to be made on whether there is a requirement to keep these open again, given the recent impact of strikes, or close to allow staff to join the celebrations. There may also be other services, to be discussed and agreed, who may wish to stay open for emergency response purposes. 2.2.4 At the current time, all schools and nursery establishments will be closed on Monday 1 May 2023 which is the normal May holiday with the 2nd May being an in-service day for teaching staff. The schools will then close again for the May weekend which is on Monday 26 May to Friday 29 May 2023. The additional bank holiday will also mean the schools and nursery establishments will be closed on Monday 8 May 2023. There has been no communication from the government to suggest the moving of any of the bank holidays to accommodate the additional day. 2.2.5 If Finance & Resources Committee agree to awarding the additional bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023 and agree to closing schools and nursery establishments, the statutory number of schooling days within North Lanarkshire Council will reduce from 190 to 188 days. This is because the statutory days have already been reduced to 189 in this school year due to the declared bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral on 19 September 2022. Scottish Government guidance states that where an application for an exemption from Regulation 5 of the Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975 is required, these should be submitted and will be dealt with quickly.
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2.2.5 If a bank holiday is applied, rather than a day of annual leave, all employees who are required to work on Monday 8 May 2023, will receive the enhanced rates and provisions that are applicable to public holidays. 2.2.6 Part-time employees will benefit from a pro-rated entitlement and employees on maternity leave will also benefit from an additional bank holiday on their return to work. Employees who work an alternative work pattern to the normal 35 hours over five days (i.e. Monday to Friday) will have the additional bank holiday entitlement calculated in the same way as all other public holidays. Due to the nature and reason for this additional bank holiday, managers should encourage employees to take the bank holiday at the earliest possible point. 2.2.7 Employees who are on sickness absence or suspended from duty will not receive an additional day if they remain absent from work on Monday 8 May 2023 and this is in line with the Council’s conditions of service and current practice. 2.2.8 Once the Council’s proposed position has been agreed by Finance & Resources Committee, appropriate communications will be issued to staff, parents and the local community, and the school holidays for session 2022/23 will be updated accordingly. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The decision to award an additional bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023 is applied fairly and consistently across the Council and in line with conditions of service, policy and procedure. 3.2 Employees are afforded the opportunity to join in a long weekend of celebrations following the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday 6 May 2023. 4. Supporting documentation 1.0 Letter from Scottish Government dated 9 December 2022 Fiona Whittaker Chief Officer, People Resources
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? With the contractual requirement to pay enhanced rates to employees who are required to work on a public holiday, there will be an additional cost to the Council. At the time of writing this report, the estimated cost was not available however if the Council chooses to close almost all services, the cost should be less than normal public holidays expenditure 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Contractually, employees are not entitled to an additional day’s leave, but there is an explicit expectation that the Council will honour the decision on this matter. It is the sole decision of the Council as to how any additional leave which is granted, should be classified or applied, in line with locally agreed policies and conditions and within the Red Book for single status employees. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒
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If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.
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Cidhe Bhictòria, Dùn Èideann, EH6 6QQ Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ www.gov.scot Buidheann-Stiùiridh an Ionnsachaidh Learning Directorate T: 0131 244 0132 E: sam.anson@gov.scot Directors of Education 9 December 2022 Dear Colleague, KING CHARLES III CORONATION – 8 MAY 2023 You will be aware that His Majesty King Charles III will celebrate His Coronation in May next year. The First Minister has confirmed, along with the other nations of the United Kingdom, the introduction of a Bank Holiday to mark the celebration of His Majesty’s Coronation. In relation to schools in Scotland, Ministers have confirmed their view that it is important that families in Scotland are also able to participate in the Coronation celebrations next year and is supportive of these days being taken as school holidays. If your local authority intends to close public schools in its area on 8 May 2023 to mark His Majesty’s Coronation, such closures might result in a breach of the requirement in Regulation 5 of the Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975 (which requires authorities to secure that schools are open for 190 school days in every school year). Where this would be the case, an application for a direction under section 133(4) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 exempting your authority from that requirement to the necessary extent should be submitted to exceptionalclosure@gov.scot. We are conscious that SQA exams were scheduled to take place on this date. In light of the announced public holiday, no exams will now take place on 8 May. SQA has engaged with partners in finalising where the relevant exams should be moved within the existing timetable, and will be informing centres of the finalised arrangements shortly. With regard to early learning and childcare (ELC), the decision on how to approach the public holiday is at local authority discretion and Local Authorities should consider how their services are provided in line with the statutory obligation to provide 1140 hours of funded ELC over the course of the year. If you have any further comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
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Cidhe Bhictòria, Dùn Èideann, EH6 6QQ Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ www.gov.scot Yours sincerely, Sam Anson Deputy Director: Workforce, Infrastructure and Digital