Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Thursday 22nd July 2021

The Government would like to congratulate the England team on its sterling performance in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final. However, the Government has no plans for a bank holiday.

The Government appreciates how England’s performance at Euro 2020 has united and inspired the nation, particularly in light of the incredibly difficult times endured during the pandemic. We are extremely proud of the England team’s success.

The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to celebrate a variety of occasions. However, the current pattern is well established and accepted.
There are eight permanent bank and public holidays in England and Wales. There are nine in Scotland and ten in Northern Ireland.

While an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the overall cost to the economy is considerable. The most recent estimate – from the impact assessment for the additional holiday for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012 - is that a bank holiday (across the UK) costs the economy around £1.2bn. The extra costs to certain businesses are substantial.

Full-time workers in the UK are entitled to 28 days statutory paid holiday each year. However, many workers are likely to have to work on bank holidays due to their contractual arrangements. Legislation does not give employees a right to time off or extra pay on bank holidays.

Short notice bank holidays can also have implications across the public sector which need to be taken into consideration, such as:

• Benefit payments falling on the bank holiday would have to be rescheduled, which may lead to backlogs and hardship for claimants.

• Disruption to health and social care services and cancellation of scheduled operations and treatments, of which there is already a backlog due to Covid-19.

• Courts and tribunals would have to postpone hearings. Due to the way that listings are managed, these may have to be pushed back by more than a single day, leading to longer delays.

• Children would require an additional day out of school, having already missed a significant number of days due to the pandemic.

For these reasons, the Government has no plans to create a one-off bank holiday for this occasion.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Parliamentary Debate

This petition has reached the threshold for a Parliamentary debate, but the debate has not been held. The Petitions Committee gave the following explanation.

The Petitions Committee has decided not to schedule a debate on this petition. The Committee considered the petition at its meeting on 13 July 2021.

Gareth Southgate and all of the members of the England team did the country proud, but sadly they didn’t win Euro 2020, so the request of this petition isn't something that needs to be debated.

This petition was the most popular petition on petition.parliament.uk in the run up to the final. It was great to see the support that fans had for the team, and the outpouring of support for the players in the days after.