§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many retail outlets in England and Wales have been prosecuted for trading on Sundays264W during each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to secure widespread agreement to a reform of the existing law.
§ Mr. MellorFigures are not yet available for 1989. Those for the previous four years 1985–88 show that the number of prosecutions for Sunday trading offences in England and Wales were 647, 724, 646 and 536 respectively. The Government accepted the findings of the Auld committee that there was no satisfactory solution short of total deregulation. Since the defeat of the Shops Bill, the Government have made clear that they are prepared to consider reform short of total deregulation if a solution can be found which is widely accepted, enforceable, practicable and likely to command a parliamentary majority. No such solution has yet emerged.