Edinburgh council confirms public holiday on May 8 for Charles III coronation

Edinburgh Greens say ‘people can think of nurses appreciation week’

A bank holiday will be held in Edinburgh to mark the King’s coronation this summer, the council has confirmed.

Councillors have approved the extra public holiday on Monday May 8, which will see schools closed and services reduced. It will be the final day of a three-day “Coronation Weekend” with King Charles III set to be officially crowned on Saturday May 6. The additional holiday will cost the council around £250,000, a report showed.

Local authorities were left to decide individually whether to grant an additional leave day for the occasion and councillors gave the go ahead at a City Chambers meeting on Thursday (February 9). In a letter to the council, the Scottish Government said it was “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”. It added that SQA exams due to take place on May 8 will be rescheduled.

Charles will be crowned on Saturday May 6 - and Monday May 8 will be a public holiday. Picture: Gordon Terris, Herald & Times.

A council report noted the bank holiday would “mean a further reduction in teaching days” and that the school year has “already seen a reduction this year” due to the Queen’s funeral in September and teacher strikes over the last three months. It added: “There would be a notional cost of circa £250,000 for the additional fixed public holiday on Monday 8 May 2023. This cost has been assessed based upon the opportunity cost of lost working time due to the additional annual leave and the resulting enhanced payments and other costs for those employees/ services required to still operate during the period concerned.”

At the meeting, the Green group tabled an addendum requesting an “in-depth equality impact assessment” looking at how service changes and unexpected closures affect women and other groups. Alys Mumford, co-convener of the Edinburgh Greens, said additional public holidays can leave parents “scrambling to find childcare” and workers impacted by changes to public transport.

She said: “Of course we’re supportive of giving workers more time off, particularly as it means we’re well on the way to May being a month of four day weeks almost, something we should all aspire to.” She said residents could use the time off to “think about one of the many other things commemorated on May 8 such as the international day for Red Cross, nurses appreciation week or “Enrique Iglesias’ birthday”.