Council urged to keep ‘tattie holidays’ as they are to allow for cheaper breaks

Stephen Kerr, Scottish Conservative candidate for Angus and Perthshire Glens

Angus Council has been urged to keep the local ‘week of opportunity’ for residents to enjoy cheaper breaks during the October holidays.

The county has a longstanding tradition where the ‘tattie holidays’ begin on the first Monday of October each year, compared with the second Monday in other Scottish local authorities.

Despite attempts to realign the date with neighbouring Tayside councils, these were voted down following consultations in 2009 and again in 2015.

Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Angus and Perthshire Glens, grew up in Forfar and has fond memories of “the tatties” and has backed an extension of the arrangement, ahead of an education committee meeting on Thursday.

He said: “The slightly earlier holiday goes back to the grade A farmland in Angus and how much of an advantage it was to pick tatties earlier in the month. Families would spend the fortnight with the young ones and you’d get a dreel or two each. It was hard work, but it was a communal bonding experience for people, the spirit of which continues for hardworking families today.

"It's obviously an advantage to many, outweighing any variance with the likes of Dundee.

"So Angus Council should follow the response to this consultation, and keep the first Monday a fixture in family calendars.”

In November last year, councillors approved a consultation on dates for all school holidays over the next three years.

Some 61% of 837 responses supported proposed dates, while 38.7% did not. Parents and carers provided almost two-thirds of the responses.

Council officers have advised against requests to advance the Christmas holiday, and noted eight comments that the number of mid-term breaks and in-service days were too high.

However, there were far fewer responses to this consultation than the last one in 2015 – 837 against 4398.

Mr Kerr concluded: “The drop in consultation numbers is really noticeable and that could have repercussions in future. So I would also ask Angus Council to consider widening surveys on important topics, and getting out in the community, rather than doing everything via their online portal.”