Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to establish additional public holidays to mark (a) St Andrew's Day, (b) St David's Day, (c) St George's Day and (d) St Patrick's Day.

The current pattern of bank and public holidays is well established and accepted. The Government has no plans to change it.

Northern Ireland and Scotland have additional bank holidays for St Patrick’s Day and St Andrew’s Day respectively.

While an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the cost to the economy of an additional bank holiday remains considerable. The latest analysis estimates the cost to the UK economy for a one-off bank holiday to be around £2bn.