HC Deb 14 January 1993 vol 216 cc1051-2
11. Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what review he has made of the operation and enforcement of the Shops Act 1950 over the Sundays preceding Christmas 1992.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

None, Madam.

Mr. Beith

Does the Minister realise that what some large companies are doing by flagrantly breaking the law is attempting to increase their market share at the expense of those companies and small businesses which keep the law? Since the lawbreakers may carry on with the same cavalier attitude, whatever modifications of the law are agreed by the House, will the Minister and his colleagues start to put their weight behind enforcement of the law, now and in the future?

Mr. Lloyd

As the right hon. Gentleman very well knows, the law is extremely clear on one point, that the responsibility for its enforcement lies with local authorities. He has, however, been rather misleading in his introductory remarks. He knows, as does the whole House, that for many years many small shops have broken the law. It is in the recent past that the large shops have started to do so, which is why my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary, in his statement a few weeks ago, made it clear that the Government intend to find a solution to this problem—something which eluded us some years ago when we sought to do so—by introducing a Bill that would enable the House to compare and choose between the major options for reform that are available. That should put behind a new law the authority that the current law so clearly lacks.