John Swinney’s controversial decision to declare an official World Cup bank holiday on Monday has been branded an expensive shambles which will cost taxpayers an eye-watering £64million.
The First Minister – who has skipped parliamentary duties to fly to the US to cheer on Scotland – asked King Charles for special permission for the holiday to mark Scotland’s first appearance at the tournament for 28 years.
The move was branded a pre-election ‘bribe’ by opponents as he made the request just months before May’s Holyrood election.
Now, analysis by the Scottish Mail on Sunday has revealed that only around 250,000 Scots have been able to take the day off, the bill to taxpayers runs into tens of millions of pounds and the holiday will cause chaos and disruption to public services.
In January, Mr Swinney declared that Monday, June 15, ‘should be a national bank holiday’, with his official request later given the go ahead by the monarch.
Now, the true cost of the ‘gimmick’ has been revealed with critics warning it is nothing more than a ‘waste of public money’ that will result in ‘confusion’ and ‘disruption’.
Just five local authorities – Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Dundee, Aberdeen and South Lanarkshire – will honour the holiday, costing around £1.5million in total. Schools in those areas are to shut for the day and services are expected to be reduced, leaving parents to find childcare or use holidays themselves.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland have refused to honour the day, citing unaffordable costs and a negative impact on their ability to provide services.
John Swinney in Boston ahead of Scotland’s first match against Haiti
Scotland fans prepare for the match in America while millions of Scots will be watching at home
The cost of shutting down the Scottish parliament and giving civil servants in Scotland the day off could also reach £1.8m, based on previous analysis.
However, the biggest bill will be for the NHS, with taxpayers spending £60m to give health service staff an extra day off and pay for cover.
Reacting to the news, Callum McGoldrick, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Taxpayers will be dismayed that John Swinney’s unnecessary bank holiday could cost £64 million.
‘Holding a public holiday more than 24 hours after a Sunday football match risks creating confusion for families, disruption for services and extra costs for businesses and taxpayers.
‘The Scottish Government should drop this costly political gimmick’
Mr Swinney had said he wanted ‘as many people as possible to celebrate’ Scotland’s return to World Cup.
But bank holidays are not mandatory and there is no legal obligation for businesses to close or offer staff paid leave.
The majority of business leaders and council chiefs have chosen not to honour the holiday, citing financial concerns, disruption to services and a headache for parents whose children would be off school.
Inverclyde council leader Stephen McCabe said the holiday was a ‘pre-election bribe’ from Mr Swinney.
He said: ‘While the First Minister is sunning himself in Boston the rest of us will be at work as normal in Inverclyde. There was absolutely no need for a public holiday. It was just a pre-election bribe by John Swinney.
‘The game will be over by 4am on Sunday, leaving plenty of time for recovery before the start of the new working week.
‘It is ludicrous that in some areas schools will be closed and other services operating at reduced capacity, causing disruption to local residents when there is absolutely no need for it.
‘It is a complete waste of public money at a time when there are huge pressures on the public finances.’
The Scottish Government claimed Monday’s holiday for civil servants won’t cost taxpayers anything, despite thousands of workers being paid not to work.
When challenged a spokeswoman said the costs would not be ‘additional’ as Government staff are salaried, and said there would be ‘minimal costs incurred for out of hours services’ but was unable to say what those would be.
However, details revealed through Freedom of Information showed the last unscheduled bank holiday, to mark the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022, cost around £1.5m for staff salaries. Based on this data and annual payrises, the cost of the civil servants’ football holiday will cost around £1.8m, with any out of hours work adding further to the total bill.
Of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, 27 have chosen not to grant the holiday.
Scots fans hired a boat as they celebrated before the Haiti match
Last week a report from the Accounts Commission showed local authorities facing a combined budget shortfall of more than half a billion pounds for the next year, warning that councils risk ‘becoming financially unsustainable, unless they stop, reduce or significantly redesign services.’
North Lanarkshire council leader Jim Logue, who has also chosen not to give staff the day off, said: ‘It is abundantly clear that the decision of the Scottish Government was no more than a political gimmick. The estimated cost to North Lanarkshire Council was around £500,000 and would have led to school closures along with impacting a whole range of services.
‘It is utterly bizarre when there is a report just out which highlights a budget gap for all councils of £529 million. Little wonder that only five of the 32 councils have played along with this nonsense. This is a complete shambles.’
The cost of Mr Swinney’s public holiday comes after we revealed the SNP leader had given permission for two of his ministers to take their summer holidays early and jet off to the football, despite pledging his cabinet would ‘work harder than ever’ when the SNP won the election last month.
Transport minister Stephen Flynn and Community Care minister Alison Thewliss will be going to the competition in a personal capacity while Mr Swinney and his sports minister Maree Todd will be attending on behalf of the government.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: ‘We want to make the most of Scotland’s participation in the World Cup by ensuring people have the opportunity to come together and celebrate around the country.’
