SCOTLAND PREPARES FOR DISRUPTION DURING THE QUEEN’S FUNERAL

Daily routines will come to a halt for many people in Scotland as the Queen’s state funeral is held on Monday.

A UK bank holiday was approved by King Charles III for the day of the funeral of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey in London. In Scotland, schools, colleges and universities will close along with many shops and visitor attractions.

Essential services provided by councils will continue, but some health services will be put on hold. Across Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, non-essential services such as sports facilities, museums and libraries will be closed on Monday, along with primary and secondary schools and council nurseries.

Essential council services including waste collection will continue, although actual collections times may vary and recycling centres will be shut in most areas. Home care services provided by councils will continue.

Gardens of remembrance will also remain open. Arrangements are being made to facilitate weddings, burials and cremations that have already been booked to take place on Monday.

Council staff will be paid their normal bank holiday rates. In Edinburgh, where council staff and schools were already scheduled to be off for a local holiday, workers have been told they will be entitled to another day of annual leave.

Scottish Courts confirmed that no courts or tribunals would sit on Monday, but arrangements were being made for all sheriffdoms to hold custody courts on Saturday.

NHS Scotland said measures were being put in place to enable vital healthcare services to continue, with some planning being made on a local level by Scotland’s 14 health boards.

GP surgeries, community pharmacies, and dental and optometry practices have been left to decide whether to open or not and will contact affected patients.

Planned treatments, including surgery, are expected to proceed as scheduled. However, patients who wish to cancel a procedure on Monday will be allowed to do so without it counting towards their two reasonable offers of appointment.

Appointments for the winter Covid vaccination programme will go ahead with clinics offering the opportunity to reschedule.

Shops, including the main supermarkets, will be closed across the country, with many UK-wide chains already confirming they will not open on Monday.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s said they would open their convenience stores at 17:00. Morrisons stores will be closed all day. WH Smith’s shops at railway stations and airports will be closed for the duration of the funeral service.

Fast food companies have started announcing changes to their operating hours, with McDonalds announcing it would not open its restaurants until 5pm and Domino’s will open at noon on Monday, after the ceremony has finished.

Some pubs and restaurants are expected to alter their opening hours for the duration of the funeral. Brewdog has confirmed its bars will be closed until 2pm

The Royal Mail will suspended its postal services on the day.

The UK government advises on its website that the additional bank holiday “will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.”

Although it says that some businesses “may wish to consider closing or postponing events”, there is no obligation to do so and no statutory entitlement to time off for workers.

The Scottish government advised: “Not everyone is entitled to paid leave on bank or public holidays. If in doubt, check the position with your employer.”

Many visitor attractions and heritage sites will be closed on Monday and visitors are advised to check before travelling. National Galleries Scotland, Historic Scotland and National Museums Scotland are among those that have announced that all their sites will shut to mark the funeral.

Palace of Holyroodhouse, one of the Royal residences, and The Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh has been closed since the Queen’s death and will not reopen during the period of mourning.

Trains will be running as normal across Scotland, as will Edinburgh Trams. Bus companies may be running to a different timetable. Lothian Buses told the BBC it would be operating a Sunday service on Monday. Airports in Scotland will be staffed as usual on Monday but some airlines have advised passengers to check their websites before travelling.

While most of the public spaces in Scotland will be closed for the funeral, some community spaces plan to open to allow people to watch the funeral together. Veteran’s charity Legion Scotland will open the doors to their clubs for members and the public on Friday morning.

Some churches will also screen the service at Westminster Abbey, including Fettercairn Church, near Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire and the Tron Church on Bath Street, Glasgow. According to protocol, no church can hold an official remembrance or thanksgiving service for the Queen until “some time” after the funeral.

Most cinemas across Scotland will be closed all day on Monday, but some cinemas will live stream the funeral. Vue cinemas across Scotland and the Arc Cinema in Peterhead have offered free bookable tickets to a live screening of the ceremony in London.

A statement on the Vue Cinemas website said: “The Queen was renowned for her support of the UK’s creative industries, having been patron of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Royal Variety Charity and the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund.”

Only bottled water would be available to buy on Monday and no films will be screened.

There are no confirmed plans for screenings of the funeral in council public spaces in Scotland.