7. Cabinet 17 March 2026 Additional Bank Holiday
North Ayrshire Council · 17 March 2026
Back to Cabinet — 17 March 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 17 March 2026 Cabinet Title: Additional Bank Holiday Purpose: To provide information on the additional bank holiday proposed by Scottish Government and approved by royal proclamation for the World Cup. Recommendation: That Cabinet approves the additional bank holiday for all employees on Monday 15 June 2026 and authorises the Head of Education to write to the Scottish Government to obtain approval for one less teaching day. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 The Scottish Government has announced that Monday 15th June 2026 will be an additional bank holiday to mark Scotland’s participation in the men’s football World Cup. His Majesty King Charles has approved this by Royal Proclamation. 2. Background 2.1 North Ayrshire Council has already agreed the local holidays and school term time calendar for 2026. To amend the school term time calendar, permission must be sought from Scottish Government as one less teaching day will be provided in the school term 2025/26. 2.2 The provision of an additional bank holiday will result in additional costs for services which are required to operate on Monday 15th June 2026. 2.3 Similar to previously agreed additional bank holidays (e.g. the Coronation) where employees are required to work on this day, costs for additional overtime/backfill costs will be required to be paid from service revenue budgets. Based on overtime paid on the Coronation holiday it is anticipated that the costs across the Council for overtime will be around £73,000, this does not include backfill costs associated with employees taking the compensatory day at another time. 2.4 The indirect cost is that the Council will continue to pay salaries to employees who are not at work. This will have an impact on the overall efficiency of the Council and may result in an increase in wait times as teams will have workload to catch up on from an additional day off.
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2.5 It is anticipated that the additional day off will have a positive impact on morale and allow families to enjoy the celebrations associated with the World Cup. 3. Proposals 3.1 That Cabinet: a) Approves the additional bank holiday for all employees on Monday 15th June 2026. b) Authorises the Head of Service (Education) to write to the Scottish Government to obtain approval for one less teaching day. c) Acknowledges that if the additional bank holiday is agreed, the main Council buildings and Schools will be closed and where employees are required to work on the day, enhanced rates will be received as per our Terms and Conditions of Employment. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 It is anticipated that the additional bank holiday would cost approximately £73,000. These indicative costs are based on the enhanced overtime rates on the Coronation holiday in 2023. Human Resources 4.2 Communications to employees will be issued to ensure that there is awareness of the additional bank holiday and the change to the Term time calendar for 2026 only. Legal 4.3 Permission should be sought from the Scottish Government by the Head of Education for an additional school closure day. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 None. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
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4.9 None. Consumer Duty 4.10 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 The Trade Unions have been consulted and have indicated that they would support the additional bank holiday. Fiona Walker Head of Service (People & ICT) For further information please contact Jackie Smillie, Senior Manager (People Services), on by email. Background Papers 0