Extra bank holiday to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee suggested

In a policy letter the committee is recommending the late May bank holiday be moved from Monday 30 May to Thursday 2 June, and then an extra holiday would be added for Friday 3 June.

ED president Neil Inder said this would allow for a four-day weekend

‘[This] will provide the opportunity for the public to celebrate the first British monarch to reach such a milestone,’ he said in the policy letter, on behalf of the committee.

‘This proposed change also enables Guernsey to align itself to the United Kingdom which announced plans some months ago to mark the Queen’s 70th anniversary as monarch.’

The move would be a one-off change.

The Policy & Resources Committee has advised that the financial implications to the States of an additional public holiday had been estimated to be £600,000 in staff costs. A consultation into the move was held with local businesses, parish officials and States committees. During this, ED also asked for views on whether the public holiday for Liberation Day should remain on 9 May on those occasions when it falls on a Saturday or Sunday or whether the following Monday should be designated as a substitute public holiday for Liberation Day.

In 2010, the States of Deliberation moved the public holiday for Liberation Day to Monday 10 May to mark the 65th anniversary, but five years later kept Saturday 9 May as a public holiday to mark the 70th anniversary.

‘The unanimous view was that 9 May is a significant date for islanders and should not be moved,’ Deputy Inder.

‘This does not prevent businesses making a decision as to whether to offer their staff time off in lieu for staff who normally work Monday to Friday.

‘The Committee for Economic Development is, therefore, proposing that going forward the Liberation Day public holiday should always remain on 9 May, even when this date falls on a Saturday or Sunday.’

The policy letter also suggests that in future responsibility for public holidays be delegated to Economic Development.

That would mean that when changes to public holidays were needed, a consultation exercise would continue to be undertaken so that the views of stakeholders are taken into account, but the final decision would then rest at committee level rather than the full States.