St Andrew's Day holiday falls flat as work goes on

IT WAS supposed to be a new public holiday to celebrate the life and times of Scotland's patron saint.

But November 30, 2007, looks like turning into the great St Andrew's Day holiday flop, with thousands of workers still chained to their desks.

A year ago, the Scottish Parliament voted to allow employees to swap any of their public holidays for time off this Friday. A survey of some of Scotland's leading employers has found, however, that few, if any, employees have shown an interest in switching one of their days off to November 30 - even though this year it would make a three-day weekend.

Banks, insurance companies and even public-sector bodies such as councils said they had no record of anyone claiming St Andrew's Day off.

Supporters of last year's parliamentary decision said the new holiday had not yet had time to filter through into workplaces. Critics said it would never take off until it was made a statutory holiday and preferably moved to summer.

Dr David Brown, a specialist on the origins of the Scottish nation at Glasgow University, said St Andrew's Day had been a feast day for centuries. But he was not

surprised that hardly anyone seemed to be taking it as a new holiday.

"It's easy to say, 'have a holiday', but it often takes a long time before the idea settles in and it becomes a natural thing to do. It doesn't help having it in the winter, or that it is in the middle of the school and university terms. There would probably be a better uptake in the summer so perhaps we ought to start thinking about moving St Andrew's Day to earlier in the year."

At the Royal Bank of Scotland there was "no indication of a surge in interest in people taking a holiday on St Andrew's Day this year". And a Bank of Scotland spokesman said: "We are not aware of a massive number of inquires asking to take time off."

Employees of public-sector bodies appeared equally unenthusiastic. "Our public holidays are well established and there are no plans at present to change this," said a spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council. Edinburgh council said it had not detected any increase in workers requesting the day off.

St Andrew's Day will also be a normal working day for the Saltire Society, the cultural association which aims to preserve the best traditions of Scotland. Administrator Kathleen Munro said: "It's a working day for us in the sense that we are holding our literary awards. We will be celebrating St Andrew's Day as part of that."

At St Andrews University, close to where some of the saint's relics are believed to have been brought in the 8th century, a spokesman said: "St Andrew's Day is never a day off for us as it is our main graduation day, but we would support the notion of it being a national holiday."

The Scottish Retail Consortium was one of the few industry bodies in favour of a statutory public holiday on St Andrew's Day. Director Fiona Moriarty believed lack of interest in taking this Friday off was a result of confusion over what had been decided.

Dennis Canavan, the former independent MSP who sponsored the successful bill, also wanted the day as an additional statutory holiday but business groups argued successfully that extra time off would cost the Scottish economy more than £100m. The bill was passed only after a compromise in which workers were allowed to take the day off but in exchange for part of their normal holiday allowance.

Canavan said: "Only if the Scottish Government takes the lead and encourages employers in both the public and private sectors will it take off.

"The trades unions also need to take a leading role, as do councils and, in particular, schools. If children get the day off then their parents are more likely to as well."

A spokeswoman for VisitScotland said: "From a tourism point of view we would like to make a lot of St Andrew's Day because it provides a real focus on Scotland and what is available here at this time of year."