SHOPS. (Hansard, 29 July 1931)

§ Mr. HOFFMAN

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend Section five of the Shops Act, 1913, by fixing an earlier hour at which shops may be closed by a closing order. I am not sure whether this does not create a record in the size of Bills. It is so small that it might be called "The One Word Bill," for all that it proposes to do is to alter one word in the Shops Act, 1912. The late Lord Avebury managed to get through the House, in 1904, a Measure which was then called the Permissive Closing Bill. It gave power to local authorities to make closing orders not earlier than seven o'clock, provided that two-thirds of the shopkeepers, or, indeed, of any trade in any district were in favour of it. The Act of 1904 was embodied in the consolidating legislation of 1912, and the object of this Measure is to alter the word "seven" to "six" in Section 5. That will give power to the local authorities to make closing orders not earlier than six o'clock instead of seven o'clock, and the conditions would be exactly the same as they have been since 1904. In recent years there has been a tendency for shops in certain towns to close voluntarily a lot earlier. I could give a very long list of towns where six o'clock closing either for all shops or for some shops has been for a long time voluntarily in operation; but recent events are tending to cheek that voluntary movement.

2302 It may be urged that a Select Committee has been appointed by this House to go into the question of shop hours. As I understand the position, that Select Committee has to deal with hours and conditions of employment, and does not touch the question of closing. That is the reason why I am asking this House for leave to bring in this Bill. I have heard people say that the shopkeeper should have the liberty to keep his shop open as long as he likes. The answer to that is that this House has passed legislation compelling all, or nearly all, shops to close at eight o'clock, and it has, as I have said, ever since 1904 allowed permissive local orders to be made. I would urge that liberty can only be secured when licence is curbed, and we ought never to mix up the words "liberty" and "licence." For example, recently a very large store in the West End of London has decided to keep open its premises next September until seven o'clock at night. The result of that has been already quite disastrous, We have made inquiries among other shops in the West End of London, and while quite a number have said that it is not their intention to keep open their shops later, there are others who say that they will wait and see what happens.

I would point out to the House that, really, there is no general advantage in shops keeping open late if they all keep open late. It is only when a trader keeps his shop open while others are closed that he has the advantage. Immediately the others keep open as late as he does, then all the advantage that he formerly had is gone. The result is that the employers and employés are working longer hours, overhead charges, especially in reference to lighting, are sent up, and the effects are bad and by no means good. May I give one experience I had just before I came to this House? I had been to a Midland town to open a branch of my organisation, and there they were closing at six o'clock at night. When I went round to one branch manager and asked him whether he would come along to the meeting that night to elect officers, he said, "I am sorry. I cannot come to-night, because I am judging a tennis tournament." Another when asked to come, could not do so because he was secretary of the allotments association and was going to judge 2303 the allotments. Another could not come because he was conducting a choir that night. It overjoyed me to know that those who were working in shops could at last enjoy the amenities of civilised life. If anyone had told me 15 years ago that on an ordinary week night shop assistants could be enjoying, after their shop was closed, tennis, cricket, attention to their allotments and so on, I should never have believed it possible. This House should encourage and not discourage a movement of that kind which is going to bring health and better life to large numbers of those who are employed in our shops. It is because this Bill, if passed, will tend to help forward that movement of very much earlier closing that I ask leave to introduce it.