Sunday Trading (Hansard, 6 November 1992)

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the judgment of the European Court of Justice on the B & Q cases.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
I hope that the court will deliver its judgment soon.
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§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what guidance he proposes to give local authorities on the enforcement of the Shops Act 1950;
(2) how he proposes to ensure that the Shops Act 1950 is fairly enforced in the pre-Christmas and new year trading periods.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General has recently made clear what steps local authorities can take to enforce the law,Official Report, 11 May 1992, column 368; 15 July 1992, column 707.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his oral answer on 22 October to the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall),Official Report, column 558, when he expects to make his promised statement to the House;
(2) what procedure and time scale he intends to follow to ensure that Parliament is freely enabled to decide on the nature and extent of any changes to the Shops Act 1950.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
My right hon. and learned Friend intends to make a statement soon which will deal with these matters among others.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his oral answer on 22 October to the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall).Official Report, column 558, how many of the stated representations received in favour of Sunday trading have come from pre-printed colour postcards supplied by the Shopping Hours Reform Council.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
Of the 4,433 written representations received, 4,086 were postcards in the form described in the question.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the Sunday trading laws of other EC member states.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
I understand that nearly all other EC member states place some restrictions on Sunday trading.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations on Sunday trading he has received during the current year from small business organisations.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
We have received 35 written representations from business organisations. Our records do not enable us to distinguish between them according to size.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met representatives of the Keep Sunday Special campaign; and when he next expects to do so.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
I last met representatives of the Keep Sunday Special campaign on 23 September 1992. We agreed to meet again before the Government bring before the House any proposals for reforming the Shops Act 1950.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what information he has on the incidence of shop theft and damage on the Sundays in the period from November 1991 and for similar periods in the previous five years;
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(2) what information he has on the incidence on crimes against shop staff (a) in the current year and (b) in comparable periods for the previous five years.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
We do not hold such information centrally.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times in the past 12 months he or his ministerial colleagues or his officials has met representatives of(a) the Shopping Hours Reform Council, (b) the Keep Sunday Special campaign, (c) OPEN, (d) the Pro-Sunday Coalition, (e) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers and (f) Sort Out Sunday, respectively.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
We have had four meetings with the Shopping Hours Reform Council in the last 12 months; four with the Keep Sunday Special campaign; one with OPEN; and two with Sort Out Sunday. We have had no meetings with either the Pro-Sunday coalition or USDAW in that period.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when was the last time his Department issued a circular to local authorities on the Shops Act 1950;
(2) when he plans to issue the next circular to local authorities on the Shops Act 1950.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
The last circular to local authorities about the Shops Act 1950 was issued on 17 July 1981. We have no plans to issue another.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what consultations he has held with residents associations on the subject of Sunday trading;
(2) what consultations he has held with (a) the British Retail Consortium, (b) churches, (c) ethnic minority groups, (d) the Jewish community, (e) consumer organisations, (f) consumers, (g) trade unions and (h) employees and other trade associations in the retail sector on the subject of Sunday trading.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
Home Office Ministers have consulted a large number of groups and organisations about the law on Sunday trading. Over 75 meetings have been held since January 1988 with a range of different groups.

§ Mr. Ray Powell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies he has commissioned into the impact on small shops of the Sunday trading activities of multiple food retailers since November 1991.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
A study has been commissioned to review the economic effects of changing Sunday trading patterns.