§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Paymaster General, pursuant to his reply of 22 November, Official Report, column 326, what is his estimate of the number of small businesses which would be affected by the estimated loss of 20,000 retail jobs following the deregulation of Sunday trading.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkWe are not in a position to make such an estimate. The study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies which indicated that up to 20,000 jobs may be lost did not make any estimate of the number of small businesses which could be affected.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Paymaster General, pursuant to his reply of 22 November, Official Report, column 326, what information he has as to the percentage of retailers who expect an increase in sales following the deregulation of Sunday trading.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkA number of retailers have indicated that they expect sales to increase following the deregulation of Sunday trading, but we are not in a position to estimate what proportion of retailers as a whole expect increases.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Paymaster General whether he has had any discussions with representatives of the small retail trade or its employees about the employment implications of the deregulation of Sunday trading: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkWe have had no such discussions, but Ministers at the Home Office have met employee representatives.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Paymaster General, pursuant to his reply of 22 November, Official Report, column 326, what assumptions are made in the estimate that 22,000 new jobs could be generated following the deregulation of Sunday trading as to the relative growth of small retail outlets on the one hand and larger retail concens on the other.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkWe are not in a position to make such an estimate. The Institute for Fiscal Studies who suggested that a 2 per cent. increase in sales may lead to an additional 22,000 jobs did not allocate these new jobs between firms of different sizes.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to his reply of 22 November, Official Report, column 326, he will list those reasons not specified in that answer as to why he regards as pessimistic the assessment that 20,000 jobs could be lost following the deregulation of Sunday training.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe Institute for Fiscal Studies' assessment takes no account of the fact that some shops already trade on Sunday. Nor did it take into account the possibility that deregulation of Sunday trading may increase jobs in related sectors of the economy.