Can anyone explain bank holidays/term dates in Scotland

[randomsabreuse]

Especially bank holidays because they seem not to be consistent across the entire country!

How do they work generally?

Are there half terms in all terms? East Dunbartonshire seems to have long weekends/half weeks other than Autumn term?

DH works in a university so has oddball holidays but how do bank holidays work with public sector and private sector jobs - will I hit a whole new level of childcare complexity when I get back to work.

I can deal with my child's holiday dates as they're published but really confused.

Is it just Glasgow that's weird?

Thanks!

Actually, I got it wrong : technically it's now called the Spring Holiday even if everyone still calls it the Easter Holidays

As well as the September Weekend swiftly followed by the October Week, I've never understand the two long weekends in May (one extra long) which means that the summer term is really disrupted.

I'd much rather in Glasgow that they took out one or more of the long weekends and add them to the "February mid-term break" so that the schools get a proper full week (as they do in other parts of Scotland).

yeah, we get a full week in Feb, made up of holidays and in-service days.

It's all a bit bizarre so not surprised that someone new to it might be confused.

I’ve lived here all my life and I’m still confused every year.

Some how Spring Break rolls off the tongue better than Spring Holiday, and yes won't be the first time the kids are back for 4 days and off for Easter weekend.

I too think May is a write off with inset days and two holiday weekends, and the voting - voting shouldn't be in schools, use other buildings or post. That's another gripe.

I remember a friend observing that there isn't a calendar month without a day of for something.

I don't think Stirling-shire uses any schools for voting.

Ours is in the community centre and has been for at least the last 17 years, when I was in Edinburgh and surrounds it was a bit of a mixture as far as I remember, schools, libraries etc.

Ds' old secondary school is used (as are quite a few other schools in Glasgow, especially primaries) as a polling station, but the Parent Council managed to get them to think about how they could give the public access to the polling area without closing the whole school. (Especially as elections usually happen during SQA exams )

More difficult for primaries though

Apparently, it reduces turnout if you move a polling station as people don't like change so they don't like to change them for fear of being seen as "anti-democratic"

I guess it depends on which sector of the turnout it would affect most? I agree, it's definitely not "undemocratic" . I prefer to go and vote in person just because it feels more important that way to me, however if we only had postal votes I'd be fine with that. It wouldn't bother me if they moved the station, there are usually enough so it's not a long way to travel.

But clearly the education of children once again comes at the bottom of the pile, and the parents who have to make alternative child care arrangements on top. That's not party political as there are numerous councils of many colours over many years that have continued the same practice.

However, I think there should be a campaign to not use any schools unless there is no other alternative - e.g. small rural school with no other public building. Though I have heard of things such as phone boxes being used.

That's a bit crazy if that's their only reason @prettybird. I assumed that schools were somehow preferred since they're council buildings. I only realised that actually it's a minority of schools that are used when the Edinburgh council posted alist of voting stations this year.

Certainly in my council area there are no schools used.

Village, town, scout and church halls and community centres. Some more remote areas use hotels

Stirling does use schools (primary though) as polling stations, it's not rural wards either but places like Riverside, Braehead and Bannockburn. Was a child care pain when DDs were younger and the early years provision attached to the schools hated it too as they had to carry on regardless . Also was only some schools and it never changed or rotated to spread the load. Glad that particular headache is behind me , we vote then go for a pint including eligible offspring.

you are correct Lidl - I thought I'd seen something saying they didn't use them anymore, but i've looked at the lists.

I think they said there are 80 but I think there are often more than one in each location, but I've found 4 plus one nursery. Deanston, Borestone and St Mary's Bannockburn plus Riverside (family Room) so not sure if that means the school is open? and Croftamie nursery.

But in general it looks like most are in other facilities.

In our town (in Angus) we have several schools used as polling stations. The vast majority of them (perhaps even all of them now) have separate access, so schools don't need to be closed.

I like the fact the PH are different across LA's. We don't have everyone heading off at the same time so the roads don't get clogged so much and you can head to an attraction in another area and it's not mobbed as people there are working.

I'm not in the Central Belt though, someone living in Glasgow who wants to head to Troon at the start of the Fair might disagree.

Braehead Primary hasnt been used for voting for at least the last 10 years when my DD was there. They use church next to the school.

@chrislilleyswig

Certainly in my council area there are no schools used.

Village, town, scout and church halls and community centres. Some more remote areas use hotels

Can I ask which council area you are in? I'm going to guess the Isle?

Some how I always assumed churches weren't used for polling because of the bigots. May be that's west of Scotland logic.

But yes the schools being used for voting is a pain as it also means the afterschool have to close.
Interesting to hear some schools manage to stay open, I was lead to believe they needed full charge of the building for security reasons for the voting.

But I also imagine that it would pose a security risk to the children if random folk were allowed in while the kids are in. My DSs primary has a double sliding doors, the second door will not open until the first door is closed, preventing anyone barging their way into the building.

Bank holidays are pretty much the same across Scotland. Your confusion is around public holidays which can differ.

Our school get the September weekend and the October week
A couple of weeks at Christmas and Easter and a few days off in February

What is annoying is when shops change their opening hours for these bank holidays that no one in Scotland actually gets. There is an August bank holiday that no one in Glasgow gets - but shops like M&S and Boots do shorter opening hours (having been caught out before trying to buy lunch in M&S on my way to work!).

Staff at Glasgow University used to get the September Monday holiday, as that's a local public holiday, but that disappeared once they moved to semesters rather than terms (as that holiday now falls a week or so after semester has started).

I don't think bank holidays are a "thing" here the way they seem to be in England; not that they don't exist, just that they're not really much of an event. Or maybe that's just round my way!

We don’t actually have any banks here any more so bank holidays are even more irrelevant than ever.

There is a legal Act that defines bank holidays and some secondary legislation that lists it for particular years if I remember correctly. The Freedom of Information Act and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act both use "working days" as their time to respond and working days are defined by those acts. The wording means even in England if there's bank holiday in Scotland/NI you can in theory not count that day in the 20 working days to respond (but it's shabby practice). I'll have a look now but it's something like the Financial Services (Banking) Act...

But of course lots of "bank holidays" are actually "public holidays" and may be local. I'm not disputing that, just thought some of you might be amused/gobsmacked as I was at the minutiae of things that we gave legislation for and what tenuous ways they reach into other parts of life/law.

Found it... Banking and Financial Dealings Act (1971)

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/80/body#top

The Schedule lists the bank holidays around the UK and includes amendments such as the 2007 one to add St Andrews Day as bank holiday in Scotland.

I was wrong about a list in secondary legislation but the gov.uk site does show the dates of bank holidays around the UK for next year, current year, and a few past years. Who knew?