8 - FARS Board Paper - World Cup Bank Holiday- 15 June 2026 AM comment - FINAL
Renfrewshire Council · 23 April 2026
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 23 April 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 23 April 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Public Holiday Proposal: FIFA Men’s World Cup, 15 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Scottish Government has designated Monday 15 June 2026 as a national bank holiday to celebrate Scotland’s participation in the FIFA Men’s World Cup. This was confirmed through Royal Proclamation on the 4 February 2026. 1.2 Although nationally recognised, the adoption of this date as a local public holiday remains a discretionary decision for each Council. Across Scotland, Councils are taking differing approaches. 1.3 COSLA, at the time of writing this report, has advised that the majority of Councils have opted not to observe the holiday, citing cost, fairness, disruption, and limited practical benefit; however a small number of Councils have decided to recognise it. COSLA has confirmed there is no national policy position on the holiday. 1.4 The key consideration is whether the value of observing the public holiday outweighs the associated financial, operational and workforce implications. This report therefore outlines relevant information to allow the Board to determine the most appropriate approach. 1.5 Some Trade Unions have indicated they may be supportive of recognising the holiday, but no formal collective position has been submitted to the Council. 1.6 Council Officers have submitted a request to the Scottish Government for a conditional exceptional school closure on 15 June 2026 to align with the proposed bank holiday. This exemption from the requirement for 190 school days was lodged by the 23 March deadline.
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PUBLIC The Scottish Government has approved the request, subject to conditions, ensuring Members retain the option to designate the day as an additional school closure. 1.7 If Members approve any of the options involving a change to local arrangements, this will be communicated across services, employees and communities through usual channels. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members are asked to: • Consider and agree one of the options set out in section 5 of this report. • Note the Scottish Government’s approval of a conditional exceptional school closure on this date, and that should a decision to implement the public holiday be approved, a report will require to be presented to the Education and Children’s Services Board. • Instruct Officers to implement and communicate their decision agreed by Members. ___________________________________________________________________ 3 Background 3.1 Members have previously agreed the schedule of 12 public holidays the Council will observe in 2026. These are attached for information in Appendix 1. 3.2 The Council has on previous occasions, aligned its public holiday schedule with nationally determined arrangements. This included adjustments made during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 to support extended national celebrations, and again in 2022 when the UK-wide changes introduced for the Platinum Jubilee moved the traditional late-May bank holiday to early June and added an additional day of celebration. The Council also observed the national public holiday declared for the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, during which all schools and nurseries in Renfrewshire were closed. Collectively, these changes required significant planning and coordination across schools, early years provision, essential services and partner organisations. 3.3 Historically, such adjustments have been directly linked to nationally significant events occurring on, or intrinsically connected to, the designated holiday date. In this instance, Scotland’s opening match is scheduled for 2.00am on Sunday 14 June, with the proposed public holiday being scheduled on Monday 15 June. 3.3 Members are invited to consider the balance of factors relevant to determining a preferred approach, including the symbolic value of the proposal, community expectations, operational planning requirements, workforce implications and the associated financial costs.
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PUBLIC 4. Implications 4.1 Each of the options presented carries different financial, operational, workforce and administrative implications. The areas potentially impacted across the options include staffing and rota arrangements for essential services, school and early years calendars, ICT and payroll system configuration, and coordination across services and partners. The scale and type of impact differ for each option. 4.2 Section 5 below sets out the options for how the Council may approach the proposed public holiday. Each option summarises the associated operational, financial and planning implications to support Members in considering how the different approaches would operate in practice. Only Option 2 (additional public holiday) carries direct financial costs, estimated at £80,000–£100,000 for essential service delivery. 5 Options for Members Consideration 5.1 Members are asked to note that options 1–3 involve the designation of a public holiday and therefore determine whether the Scottish Government’s exceptional school closure approval is triggered. Option 4 does not create a public holiday, applies only to non-essential Local Government Employees, and has no impact on school or early years provisions. 5.2 Option 1: Do Not Recognise 15 June 2026 as a Public Holiday. The Council retains its existing public holiday arrangements and 15 June would proceed as a normal working day. Key Considerations: • Aligns with the approach taken by the majority of other Councils, based on reasons they have identified such as cost pressures and the benefits of service continuity. • Avoids unfunded costs and limits operational disruption for essential services, schools, early years settings, families and partners. • Reduces the risk of community concern relating to affordability or service disruption. • Some employees and Trade Unions may feel the Council is not aligning with national sentiment. • Some employees may perceive this as missing out on a benefit available in other areas of the public sector. • If Members wish to support this option, managers may, where service needs allow, be supported to be flexible for the day in approving leave or time-back arrangements, provided essential services are maintained. 5.3 Option 2: Provide an Additional Public Holiday. The Council designates 15 June 2026 as an additional Public Holiday, in addition to the existing public holiday schedule.
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PUBLIC Key Considerations: • Provides clear and visible recognition of the national event and aligns with the Scottish Government announcement. • Scottish Government has approved a conditional exceptional school closure on this date. • Introduces an estimated additional cost of £80,000–£100,000 for essential service provision. • Decisions taken in other Council areas have attracted differing community responses, reflecting varying views on recognition of the date and service operation. • May attract concern from our communities regarding affordability, service disruption or fairness. • Employees’ experience of the day would differ depending on operational requirements. • Requires significant Business World adjustments and changes to scheduling and communication, and payroll configuration. • Creates operational impacts for schools, early years settings and families due to established calendars. • The match occurs at 2am the previous day, which may limit the practical relevance and benefit of the timing of the public holiday. • Increases the total number of public holidays in 2026 to 13. • Requires Education & Children’s Services Policy Board approval in relation to schools and early years settings closures. 5.4 Option 3: Substitute One of the May Public Holidays. The Council moves either the 4 May or 25 May public holiday to 15 June, resulting in no increase to the total number of public holidays. Key Considerations: • Recognises the date through substitution of an existing public holiday, resulting in no increase to the number of days or the related financial cost. • Reflects previous approaches used for national events such as Jubilee years. • No other Scottish Councils have indicated that they intend to adopt this approach in 2026. • School, early years and service calendars would require adjustment to reflect the substituted date. • Essential services would operate according to the revised public holiday schedule. • Some employees and Trade Unions may feel that this provides no net additional benefit. • Could disrupt May holiday plans for families, schools and businesses. • Requires Business World adjustments and changes to scheduling and communication. • May be unpopular due to long-standing May holiday expectations in Renfrewshire.
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PUBLIC • Some may feel the approach does not fully align with the national announcement. • Requires Education & Children’s Services Policy Board approval in relation to schools and early years settings closures. 5.5 Option 4: Provide a Day of “No Work Requirement” (Similar to the Festive Closure for Local Government Employees). The Council would designate 15 June as a day on which employees not required to deliver essential services would not be required to work. It would not be recorded as a public holiday. Key Considerations: • This arrangement applies only to non-essential Local Government Employees and does not create a public holiday or alter school term dates. As it is not a public holiday, the Scottish Government’s exceptional school closure approval would not apply, and schools and early years settings would operate as normal. This makes the option materially different in scope from Options 1–3. • Offers symbolic recognition without altering the public holiday calendar. • Essential services would operate as normal, with time-off-in-lieu arrangements applied for employees who work on the day • Avoids premium-rate costs associated with public holiday working. • Creates differing experiences between essential and non-essential employees, which may be perceived as inequitable. • Requires bespoke rota planning and may create staffing pressures. • More complex to manage than retaining existing arrangements. 5.6 Members will be aware that different approaches to 15 June 2026 are being taken across Scotland, reflecting local operational, workforce and service-planning requirements. Following the Council’s decision, Officers will implement and communicate the agreed arrangements. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Approving an additional public holiday has financial implications primarily relating to the costs of maintaining essential service delivery should an additional public holiday be recognised. As outlined in section 4 of this report, this may result in costs of £80,000 to £100,000 associated with premium rates of pay for employees required to work on the day. 2. People & Organisational Development - There are implications for employee expectations, workforce planning and operational delivery. Introducing an additional day, or substituting an existing public holiday, would require significant adjustments to the Council’s ERP (Business World) system, as well as communication and coordination across all services. Not recognising the holiday may lead to perceptions among some employees and Trade Unions that the Council is not aligning with national sentiment. 3. Community Planning – None.
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PUBLIC 4. Legal - There are no legal implications arising from the recommendations. Adoption of the public holiday remains a discretionary local decision and is not mandated in legislation. 5. Property/Assets – None 6. Information Technology – There are no direct IT implications beyond the system changes outlined under People & OD, or essential ICT report required to support those working on the day, which would only be required if Members approved an additional or substituted holiday. 7. Equality & Human Rights The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of any reassessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety - None. 9. Procurement – None. 10. Risk – The main risks relate to workforce perception, operational disruption and financial pressures should the Council recognise an additional public holiday. 11. Privacy Impact – None. 12. Cosla Policy Position – COSLA has identified several Councils are not recognising the holiday. The recommended position is consistent with current emerging national practice. 13. Climate Risk – None. 14. Children’s Rights – The recommendations contained within this report have been considered in relation to their potential impact on children and young people, taking account of the options and key considerations set out in the report. If schools and associated services were to close as a result of the public holiday, this would result in a limited and short-term change to the normal school routine and may have implications for childcare arrangements for families. Any such impact would be mitigated through advance notice and existing school holiday planning arrangements, and no significant adverse impact on children is anticipated. _________________________________________________________ Author: Raymond Cree, Head of People and Organisational Development
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PUBLIC APPENDIX 1 – 2026 Public Holidays for Local Government Employees Holiday 2026 New Year Thursday 1 January 2026 Friday 2 January 2026 Monday 5 January 2026 Good Friday Friday 3 April 2026 Easter Monday Monday 6 April 2026 May Day Monday 4 May 2026 Spring Bank Holiday Monday 25 May 2026 Fair Holiday Monday 3 August 2026 Autumn Holiday Friday 25 September 2026 Monday 28 September 2026 Christmas Friday 25 December 2026 Monday 28 December 2026 Day of no work requirement Thursday 31 December 2026 Non-teaching staff in schools Children’s Services issue a separate list of school holidays for term time employees.