Monday May 10th 2021
The Queen visited Newtongrange in 2015 to open the Borders railway
Council workers could be given an extra day’s holiday to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee next summer.
The UK Government has already announced plans to make Friday, June 3, 2022, an extra bank holiday.
Councillors in Midlothian will this week be asked to approve the date as an additional day off for workers and move the UK May Bank Holiday weekend to Thursday, June 2.
The council says the move will provide council staff with “a four-day weekend to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee”.
Queen Elizabeth will celebrate her 70th anniversary on the throne in June next year – the first time any monarch has reached the historic milestone.
Plans are already under way to mark the occasion, with the Royal Household and UK Government jointly arranging events.
A report to councillors this week by Kevin Anderson, executive director, will recommend they consider introducing the additional public holiday and create the long weekend for workers to enjoy the celebrations.
He says: “The four-day celebrations will feature an extensive programme of events that mix the best of British ceremonial splendour and pageantry with cutting-edge artistic and technological displays.
“These will be interspersed with the traditional nationwide fanfare and celebrations.”
The cost of an additional public holiday is estimated at around £150,000 per day.
Mr Anderson says: “An employee working on a public holiday will receive the appropriate overtime rate for all hours worked on the public holiday, regardless of the hours worked in the week.
“At this point, an initial assessment has been made of the additional paybill costs associated with designating or granting an additional public holiday and these are estimated at circa £150,000 per day, which would need to be provided for in the 2021/22 budget as an additional pressure.”
Members will take a decision on the holiday this week.
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