16th September 2015
Sunday Trading Consultation Team
Department for Business, Innovations and Skills
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
Dear Sunday Trading Consultation Team,
Devolving Sunday Trading Powers: Keep Sunday Special Submission
Keep Sunday Special is a campaign group that allows family groups, faith groups, shopworkers and small businesses to campaign to keep Sunday special. We believe that the current Sunday trading hours provide a valued compromise allowing consumers to shop, retailers to trade and shop workers the opportunity to spend time with their families. We do not support a change in the law to devolve Sunday trading powers to local authorities or Metro Mayors.
We have commissioned new research that reviews the social and economic impact that devolving Sunday trading hours will have on families and the economy. This new research dispels many of confused, misrepresented and out of date data used within the Government’s consultation:
Social Implications
- The Social Market Foundation, an independent think-tank, have applied the Government’s “family test” to the Sunday trading proposals and found it failed the test because of the impact on low and middle earning families to spend time together.
- 58% of employees in large stores have come under pressure to work on Sunday despite legal protections for shopworkers to opt out of working Sundays – this will only get worse if the law is changed.
- 60% of the public believe that Shopworkers will be forced to work longer hours if Sunday trading laws are releaxed.
Consumer Views
- New evidence from the polling agency Populus shows 67% of the British public support existing Sunday trading hours.
- 61% of the public believe that Sunday is different from the rest of the week as it enables shared time with family and friends.
- Only one in eight people don’t think there is enough time to shop under current Sunday trading hours
Economic Implications
- Oxford Economics, an independent economic consultancy, has reviewed the evidence for extending Sunday trading hours and found there be limited impact on employment, consumer spending and productivity.
- The research identifies that large stores will be the biggest winners as trade is displaced from small retailers or other parts of the economy.
Local Implications
- ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) surveyed 70 local authority Chief Executives to understand how they would use the proposed devolved Sunday trading powers.
- The survey showed there would be “domino effect” of Sunday trading hours extensions across the country as 45% local authorities said they would be more inclined to extend trading hours if a neighbouring local authority did so.
- High streets would not benefit from Sunday trading hour’s devolution. 52% of local authority respondents picked out of town retail parks, out of town supermarkets or large shopping centres as there first or second preference for areas they are mostly to extend trading hours for.
For more information on the evidence included in this submission please visit the Keep Sunday Special website here. Based on the evidence we have gathered we urge the Government to reconsider its decision to devolve Sunday trading hours and for the Prime Minister to stand by his assertion that: “the current system provides a reasonable balance between those who wish to see more opportunity to shop in large stores on a Sunday, and those who would like to see further restrictions”.
Yours sincerely,
Keep Sunday Special