Open Sundays calls for “liberalisation first, then localisation” in welcoming government’s Sunday trading law devolution

Open Sundays, the grass-roots organisation campaigning for the liberalisation of the Sunday trading laws in England & Wales, has welcomed the Government’s proposals to give local authorities or Mayors the power to extend shopping hours on a Sunday. Ideally Open Sundays would like the Westminster Parliament to make laws within which the power to extend Sunday trading hours rests with shop owners in response to consumer demand. Nevertheless, Open Sundays sees the Government’s proposals as preferable to making no changes at all to the current rules.

However, Open Sundays is disappointed that the Government has not proposed national liberalisation as an option in its Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and Department for Communities & Local Government Consultation Paper on devolving Sunday trading rules. It recommends that if the Government does press ahead with its plan to devolve these powers, it first amends the 1994 Sunday Trading Act to ensure that all areas of the country begin with the default position of complete liberalisation. Only when a year has elapsed after this reform is introduced would local authorities and elected Mayors then be granted the power to restrict opening hours. This would give Mayors and local authorities the opportunity to assess whether extended opening hours had worked in their area, so they could make a balanced judgement between Sundays in their areas with and without restricted hours.

Under the Sunday Trading Act 1994, stores over 3,000 sq. ft. are restricted to opening for only six consecutive hours between 10:00hrs and 18:00hrs only, although there have been exceptions. In the run up to the 2012 Olympics, the Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Act 2012 was passed to relax Sunday trading laws for eight consecutive weeks, accommodating for the Olympic tourists.

Responding to the Government’s consultation paper, Mark Allatt, co-founder of the Open Sundays campaign, commented:

“Whilst supporting this step in the right direction, we are calling upon the Government to liberalise first, then localise if you must. We believe that true devolution of power would give individuals and shopkeepers the power to decide when they do and do not transact with each other. We currently have the freedom to shop online across the UK anytime on a Sunday; there should be no prohibition on shopping in person in shops.

“Communities across England and Wales do not differ greatly in terms of lifestyle, values and local people’s propensity to go shopping. Freedom is a universal British value, and we would like shopkeepers and shoppers in England and Wales to enjoy the same freedoms as those currently enjoyed in Scotland. In deciding to give local authorities or elected Mayors the power to decide whether shops should be allowed to open, the Government is being unnecessarily timid. We propose that the Government allows local people to vote in a referendum on whether the hours of large shops in their locality should be restricted on a Sunday.”

An Open Sundays survey of household products used in the compilation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) carried out on 3rd June 2014 found convenience stores charged significantly higher prices than large superstores. Tesco Metro prices were on average 11% higher than a Tesco superstore, with Sainsbury’s Local charging on average 7% more than a Sainsbury’s superstore. Some branded items were charged even higher, with Tesco Metro charging 119% more than a superstore for a 500g bag of Napolina pasta and almost 60% more for a bottle of Echo Falls Chardonnay.

Adrian Pepper, co-founder of the Open Sundays campaign, added:

“It’s time to end Rip-Off Sundays. Devolving power to local authorities to determine whether shops open or not will enable some local authorities to maintain the unfair regime that currently exists, allowing anti-competitive practices to continue, which result in shoppers continuing to be ripped off by having to pay higher prices in smaller stores which will open for longer hours on a Sunday. Enlightened Mayors and local authorities will deregulate Sunday trading hours to the benefit of consumers, but this will leave those living under less enlightened local government having to travel further to find value.“

“Shoppers want the freedom and flexibility to plan their Sunday according to their own wishes, rather than to be dictated to by government over something as simple and harmless as going shopping. Devolving the decision over whether shops can open to elected Mayors and local authorities will improve the lives of shoppers in those areas where shops are allowed to open. To this extent, the proposed change is an improvement on the current position.”