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| Council leaders back controversial Sunday trading shake-up | Council leaders back controversial Sunday trading shake-up |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| More than 100 English council leaders have backed government plans to devolve powers over Sunday trading hours, ahead of a key Commons vote on the issue. | |
| The Tory officials said councils were "best placed" to decide opening hours in the interests of communities. | The Tory officials said councils were "best placed" to decide opening hours in the interests of communities. |
| Labour say the plans, which could see large stores open for more than the maximum six hours, are "pernicious". | Labour say the plans, which could see large stores open for more than the maximum six hours, are "pernicious". |
| The SNP has also said it will oppose the shake-up even though there are no trading restrictions in Scotland. | The SNP has also said it will oppose the shake-up even though there are no trading restrictions in Scotland. |
| With more than 20 Conservative MPs threatening to rebel over the issue, there is a growing prospect of the government being defeated on the biggest proposed shake-up of Sunday trading laws for 20 years. | |
| Since 1994, small shops - those up to 280 sq m, or 3,000 sq ft in size - in England and Wales can open when they want to on Sundays but larger stores are restricted to six hours between 10:00 and 18:00. Retailers can be fined up to £50,000 if they break the rules. | Since 1994, small shops - those up to 280 sq m, or 3,000 sq ft in size - in England and Wales can open when they want to on Sundays but larger stores are restricted to six hours between 10:00 and 18:00. Retailers can be fined up to £50,000 if they break the rules. |
| 'Mess' | 'Mess' |
| Ministers want to give English and Welsh councils the freedom to determine opening hours in their area, arguing this will benefit High Streets struggling to compete against online retailers. The move, they argue, is also in line with changing leisure and working patterns. | Ministers want to give English and Welsh councils the freedom to determine opening hours in their area, arguing this will benefit High Streets struggling to compete against online retailers. The move, they argue, is also in line with changing leisure and working patterns. |
| There are 353 councils in England and 22 in Wales. | |
| Ahead of Wednesday's vote on the Enterprise Bill, 102 Conservative councillors voiced their support for the move urging the government to "continue with proposals to localise these decisions and help us deliver what is best for our local communities". | Ahead of Wednesday's vote on the Enterprise Bill, 102 Conservative councillors voiced their support for the move urging the government to "continue with proposals to localise these decisions and help us deliver what is best for our local communities". |
| "We want the government to put its trust in councils," they wrote in a letter to planning minister Brandon Lewis, stressing that councils wanted the flexibility to take into account a wide range of economic circumstances. | "We want the government to put its trust in councils," they wrote in a letter to planning minister Brandon Lewis, stressing that councils wanted the flexibility to take into account a wide range of economic circumstances. |
| "We are best placed to make decisions about Sunday trading." | "We are best placed to make decisions about Sunday trading." |
| But the proposals face considerable opposition from across the political spectrum, with critics challenging the economic rationale for relaxing the laws and arguing that Sunday should be "kept special" for family time and other pursuits, including religious observance. | But the proposals face considerable opposition from across the political spectrum, with critics challenging the economic rationale for relaxing the laws and arguing that Sunday should be "kept special" for family time and other pursuits, including religious observance. |
| Conservative MP David Burrowes, one of 21 Tories backing an amendment to the legislation so any changes are restricted to tourist locations, told the BBC that the government needed to quickly find a way out of "the mess" it was in. | |
| "With the government looking down the barrel of a defeat, they have to listen hard to the concerns, particularly of Conservatives," he said. "Now I am confident that the government are very much listening to ways to negotiate this very difficult situation they have brought upon themselves." | "With the government looking down the barrel of a defeat, they have to listen hard to the concerns, particularly of Conservatives," he said. "Now I am confident that the government are very much listening to ways to negotiate this very difficult situation they have brought upon themselves." |
| Quirks of Sunday shopping | Quirks of Sunday shopping |
| To make the most of their six hours, retailers invented the idea of "browsing time". The doors of the shop open 30 minutes or so before the tills open. Shoppers could find themselves queuing inside a store with a full trolley at 09:58, waiting for the cash register to start whirring. | To make the most of their six hours, retailers invented the idea of "browsing time". The doors of the shop open 30 minutes or so before the tills open. Shoppers could find themselves queuing inside a store with a full trolley at 09:58, waiting for the cash register to start whirring. |
| Read more about browsing, extra pay, loading and no-shows | Read more about browsing, extra pay, loading and no-shows |
| The arguments over Sunday trading | The arguments over Sunday trading |
| Labour said a "sweeping deregulation" of Sunday trading laws - not mentioned in the Conservative election manifesto - was not acceptable. | Labour said a "sweeping deregulation" of Sunday trading laws - not mentioned in the Conservative election manifesto - was not acceptable. |
| "Defeating the government will be a victory for all of those who support the current arrangements which work well and mean retailers can trade, customers can shop, and shop workers can spend time with their families," said shadow business secretary Angela Eagle. | "Defeating the government will be a victory for all of those who support the current arrangements which work well and mean retailers can trade, customers can shop, and shop workers can spend time with their families," said shadow business secretary Angela Eagle. |
| "I now urge the government to admit defeat and even at this late hour drop these pernicious plans." | "I now urge the government to admit defeat and even at this late hour drop these pernicious plans." |
| 'Premium pay' | 'Premium pay' |
| The proposed changes will not apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have their own arrangement in place. | The proposed changes will not apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have their own arrangement in place. |
| Although there have never been any general trading restrictions in place in Scotland, and stores can theoretically open for as long as they like on a Sunday, the SNP said it could not support the relaxation of existing rules elsewhere in the UK. | Although there have never been any general trading restrictions in place in Scotland, and stores can theoretically open for as long as they like on a Sunday, the SNP said it could not support the relaxation of existing rules elsewhere in the UK. |
| Its deputy leader, Stewart Hosie, said Scottish workers were paid extra for working on Sundays and there were no guarantees these "premium pay" rates, worth thousands of pounds a year, would be protected if hours were extended elsewhere. | |
| "Our primary concern throughout this entire debacle has been the protection of premium pay for workers in Scotland who work on a Sunday," he said. | "Our primary concern throughout this entire debacle has been the protection of premium pay for workers in Scotland who work on a Sunday," he said. |
| "There are no protections and we believe if this turns into a seven-day-a week working operation on a UK-wide basis, those premium payments would be eroded. We are relying on guarantees or not from private businesses and that simply doesn't wash when we are talking about the incomes of perhaps a third of retail employees in Scotland." | "There are no protections and we believe if this turns into a seven-day-a week working operation on a UK-wide basis, those premium payments would be eroded. We are relying on guarantees or not from private businesses and that simply doesn't wash when we are talking about the incomes of perhaps a third of retail employees in Scotland." |
| But the government has rounded on the SNP over the issue. | But the government has rounded on the SNP over the issue. |
| "It's disappointing and hypocritical of the SNP to be trying to deny people the freedoms to shop that are already available to those they represent in Scotland," a source said. | "It's disappointing and hypocritical of the SNP to be trying to deny people the freedoms to shop that are already available to those they represent in Scotland," a source said. |
| "It's a particularly extraordinary position for a party that supposedly believes in devolution of powers from Whitehall to be seeking to stand in the way of local leaders in the rest of the UK being able to choose what's right for their communities and their economies." | "It's a particularly extraordinary position for a party that supposedly believes in devolution of powers from Whitehall to be seeking to stand in the way of local leaders in the rest of the UK being able to choose what's right for their communities and their economies." |