§ Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any proposals to relax the restraints that the Shops Act 1950 imposes upon shopping hours, including Sunday trading; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitelawThe Government accept that the shops legislation is unsatisfactory and does not correspond to modern patterns of living. I have accordingly sought: to assess whether, in the light of the past unsuccessful attempts to amend the law and of present attitudes, sufficient agreement exists on which to base proposals for new legislation. Having studied the history of unsuccessful attempts, including the debate on 20 February 1981 on Second Reading of my hon. Friend's Bill to amend the legislation in the light of the Gowers report of 1947 and the report in 1964 of the Crathorne committee on the law on Sunday observance, I am of the opinion that there is not yet a sufficient basis of agreement between the various interests concerned for the Government to seek to introduce legislation on this subject at the present time, though we are aware of the mounting pressure for reform. My noble Friend the Baroness Trumpington has introduced a Bill in another place which seeks to repeal the legislative restrictions on shopping hours. The Government can find no ground of principle for opposing such a measure and propose to maintain an attitude of benevolent neutrality during the proceedings on this Bill which will provide a further opportunity for Parliament to express its views on this subject.