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Celebrating St Andrew's Day
13/03/2008
The Scottish Government is stepping up its drive to ensure St Andrew's Day is a national celebration, Linda Fabiani said today.
The Culture Minister was speaking as research demonstrated the success of Scottish Government-led activity last year. St Andrew's Day signalled the beginning of the Winter Festival which ran through Hogmanay to Burns Night, providing people at home and visitors from around the world with an opportunity to celebrate Scotland's national day.
To ensure 2008 builds on this success, the Scottish Government will follow the spirit of the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday Act passed in November 2006, and the decisions of some of Scotland's local authorities, and make St Andrew's Day a holiday for its staff.
Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said:
"St Andrew's Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate Scotland's proud national identity, steeped in rich culture and history. The Scottish Government is leading the way to build this into a true cultural celebration for all to enjoy.
"This research shows the activity we put in place on and around St Andrew's Day in 2007 was a great success. The overwhelming majority of people who attended said they would be more likely to celebrate St Andrew's Day, and they also backed moves to make it a holiday.
"I believe the 2007 St Andrew's Day - an important part of the wider Winter Festival - was a major step forward with great excitement and enthusiasm around the many events which took place across Scotland.
"However, it is crucial we keep building on the great progress we have already made. This research shows people who attended the events responded and ensured 2007 was a success - we need to build on that and make 2008 even better.
"We will follow the lead set by the Scottish Parliament, which passed the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday Bill, and make St Andrew's Day a holiday for our staff.
"This is an important signal for the Scottish Government to send out, particularly as we prepare to welcome visitors to Scotland from around the world to join our year long Homecoming Scotland celebrations in Scotland in 2009. We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to celebrate Scotland's national day and take part in the events around St Andrew's Day as the beginning of our Winter Festival.
"We would now encourage other organisations to consider their arrangements, following the spirit of the legislation agreed by the Parliament. We will work with the private and public sector to ensure the events taking place all over Scotland around St Andrew's Day are the best yet."
Philip Riddle, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said:
"This is great news for Scottish tourism. We know that public holidays encourage people to take short breaks or go on day visits. VisitScotland is already undertaking a lot of activity to encourage people to visit Scotland all year round.
"In conjunction with the Scottish Government's Winter Festival programme, our Winter White campaign in the UK and our new European Touring Campaign both aim to boost visitor numbers during a traditionally quieter time of year by showing holiday makers that Scotland is a must-visit winter destination. A St Andrew's Day holiday will provide additional focus to our activity."
Dennis Canavan, who introduced the Bill to create a St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday, added:
"I am delighted that Scottish Government employees will have an additional holiday on St Andrew's Day and I hope that other employers in both public and private sectors will follow the Scottish Government's lead. In particular, I would urge all local authorities in Scotland to give school pupils a St Andrew's Day holiday on or around November 30. That would encourage working parents to ask their employers for a day off so that they could celebrate St Andrew's Day along with their children.
"I am optimistic that recognition of St Andrew's Day as a National Holiday will grow year by year so that an increasing number of Scots will have the opportunity of celebrating our patron saint, our national identity and our membership of the international community."
An evaluation of the Scottish Government-led activity around St Andrew's Day in 2007 was carried out involving attendees at the Edinburgh event. It showed:
- 95 per cent of Scottish residents surveyed thought "St Andrew's Day is a good opportunity to celebrate Scotland's national identity."
- 71 per cent of Scottish residents at the 2007 event said they had not celebrated St Andrew's Day in 2006
- 83 per cent of Scottish residents said they were either very likely or likely to celebrate St Andrew's Day in 2008
- 83 per cent of Scottish residents said they were either very likely or likely to celebrate St Andrew's Day in 2008 if it was a statutory public holiday
This is a summary of the main findings of research carried out by the Europe, External Affairs and Culture Analytical Unit within the Scottish Government. The full report will be published shortly.
The Scottish Parliament passed the St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Dennis Canavan, on November 29, 2006. The Bill sought to designate St Andrew's
Day, or an alternative day around November 30, as a Bank Holiday. The Bill received Royal Assent on January 15, 2007 and became an Act.
Its purpose and objectives were: "Facilitate the creation of a 'national day' on St Andrew's Day (or the following Monday if St Andrew's Day falls at a weekend) in order to celebrate Scotland and its people in terms of culture, diversity, history, tradition, contemporary society, arts, sport, enterprise and international standing. An underlying aim of the Bill is to bring Scotland closer into line with Northern Ireland and other European countries that enjoy more public holidays."
It "amends the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 which identifies designated days on which banking transactions can be suspended without penalty. Although these provisions do not actually require banks or any other organisations to close on these days, the intention of the Bill is that inclusion of St Andrews Day in the 1971 Act will help ensure the day becomes widely recognised as one of national celebration."
After discussions with trades unions, the Scottish Government agreed its staff should receive an additional day's holiday to mark St Andrew's Day. As St Andrew's Day falls on a Sunday this year, in line with the 2006 Act, the holiday will be on Monday, December 1. This will allow staff to participate in the wide range of events which will be taking place to mark St Andrew's Day and the start of the winter festival. This will apply to almost 7500 staff covered by the discussions with the trades unions on this issue.
Angus Council currently observes St Andrew's Day as public holidays.