§ Mr. HOFFMANasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of local Orders which have been made under the Shops Act, 1912, and the number of Orders which have afterwards been revoked and the number which have been modified; and if he has received any representations from local authorities that the Act of 1912 may be so amended as to allow of local closing Orders being made for an hour earlier than 7 p.m.?
Mr. DAVIESThe number of Closing Orders and Weekly Half-holiday Orders, which have been confirmed by the home Secretary since the commencement of the Act under Section 6 and Sub-section (6) of Section 4 of the Act for districts in England and Wales is 1,086. Of these Orders 98 have been wholly revoked, but except in four instances the revoked Orders have been replaced by new Orders. In 23 cases an Order has been partially revoked by the exclusion of one or more of the trades covered by the Order, but except in three instances a fresh Order was made for the excluded trades I regret that I can give no figures in regard to the Orders made by the local authorities under other provisions of the Act, which do not require to be submitted to the Home Office for confirmation. As regards the last part of the question, no specific representations from local authorities to the effect suggested can be traced.