A PUBLIC holiday could be in place this May for Clacks Council staff to mark the coronation of King Charles – at an estimated cost of £30,000.

Elected members will tomorrow be asked to designate Monday, May 8, as a public holiday to mark the coronation of the monarch, after he was proclaimed king last September.

The coronation is set to take place on Saturday, May 6, and both the Scottish and UK governments have advised that May 8 will be a national bank holiday to mark the event during a three-day “Coronation Weekend”.

The local authority has already received an exemption from the requirement to provide 190 days of schooling to accommodate the holiday.

However, there is also a statutory obligation to provide 1,140 hours of funded early learning and care and while all schools and nurseries would be closed, private providers could be used if this caused difficulties for families.

Councillors will be asked to approve the holiday at the February 2 meeting and will hear that the “potential costs of staff who may be required to work on the additional public holiday has been estimated as £30,000”.

The estimate is based from previous public holidays and council papers added that it is “envisaged that this cost can be absorbed within service staffing budgets”.

Councillors will also have the opportunity to decide not to recognise the coronation holiday – which meeting papers said may leave staff “aggrieved”.

Importantly, papers said trade unions support the additional public holiday and there could be an impact on St Modan's pupils if either Clacks or Stirling councils decide on different options.

Another option is to simply move the already existing “first Monday in May” holiday to May 8, something which had been the case for VE Day commemorations recently.