Aberystwyth town council follow Gwynedd in giving staff St David’s Day off
Aberystwyth town council has become the latest to give staff St David’s Day off.
They follow in the footsteps of Gwynedd council who announced the move last month, after the UK Government snubbed pleas to allow people in Wales the extra bank holiday in line with Scotland’s St Andrews Day and Northern Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day.
Caerphilly County Borough Council have said that they will also lobby both the Welsh Government and UK Government to make St David’s Day a national bank holiday.
Aberystwyth Town Councillor Councillor Jeff Smith put the motion before his fellow councillors at a meeting on Monday.
“It’s a great shame that the Westminster Government has not allowed the Welsh Government to make the day a bank holiday in Wales,” he told the Cambrian News.
“But the town council has now joined a number of institutions and other employers that have created a bank holiday for all intents and purposes for their staff.”
This evening, Aberystwyth Town Council passed a motion to provide our staff members with a day off on St David’s Day.
As a town council, we are keen to see a new bank holiday added to the calendar here in Wales to celebrate our patron Saint. pic.twitter.com/sYdlpOWrr3
— Kerry Ferguson (@KerryEFerguson) January 31, 2022
In December, the UK Government rejected calls for a St David’s Day Bank Holiday – claiming too many people commute across the Welsh and English border to make it feasible.
In a letter Paul Scully MP, the Minister for Small Business, poured cold water on any additional Bank Holiday for Wales.
Writing in response to the Gwynedd council’s request, Mr Scully noted, “While we appreciate that the people of Wales want to celebrate their patron saint, more people work across the English/Welsh border than across the English/Scottish border.
“This closer degree of integration could cause greater business disruption. If we had separate bank holidays in England and Wales, the impact on both employees and businesses is difficult to predict.”
The Welsh Government said that they had asked “time after time” for the power to denote 1 March a bank holiday.
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Talking of Paul Scully, he had his backside handed to him on a plate, by Emma Barnett on Newsnight last night.
I love it when a smug politician gets a sound wallop off an interviewer.
Aber makes the first move, can Ceredigion follow quickly ?
Well done Aber…… Any sign of gumption from Cardiff?
Come on Merthyr Council don’t get left behind get to be the first in the valley’s have day off for Saint David, day don’t take any notice of the English government
Da iawn, Cymru am byth 🏴
Da iawn Aberystwyth. In reality seeing how the Tories are undemocratically imposing themselves on Welsh devolution should in fact ignore their fascist dictators demands and create a national bank holiday in Wales without their consent. They’ve chosen to bypass our legislature with their leveling up and other bills, so why not give them a taste of their own medicine. I suggest Mark Drakeford call a vote in our Senedd Cymru, a government that has a mandate from the Welsh people, unlike the English Tories in London, and vote into Welsh Law that March 1st will become a national holiday throughout… Read more »
Used to love Aberystwyth as a child sprnd our summer holidays there. Have been back numerous times and enjoyed our time there. Went back about 6 months ago could not believe the change.