Following the announcement from the ONS that the UK economy saw only very minimal growth in August (0.2%), Keir Starmer is hard-pressed to find a source of growth in the otherwise stagnant UK economy. An easy win for him could be liberalisation of Sunday trading laws. If introduced, it could deliver the UK economy a significant jolt.
A 2015 consultation on Sunday trading laws found that, if Sunday trading laws were simply extended by two hours in Knightsbridge, it would generate an additional £290 million of economic activity and result in an extra 2,160 full-time jobs being created. Evidence demonstrates the clear potential economic benefit that could be gained from pursuing even a partial liberalisation of Sunday trading laws.
This policy has been explored previously, with the most serious consultation being run in 2015 by the Conservative government as part of their localism agenda. This consultation explored the possibility of devolving powers over Sunday trading laws to local authorities. Of the 7,000 stakeholders who responded to this report – consisting primarily of Local Authorities, businesses and organisations representing businesses – 76% agreed that powers over Sunday trading should be devolved to Local Authorities.
The current arrangement is woefully ignorant of the realities of the current business environment. It also does nothing to protect physical retailers from larger online retail conglomerates, like Amazon, which have no such restrictions on their opening hours. Data from the Office of National Statistics shows that online sales as a percentage of UK retail sales has risen by 16% in the last ten years, with online sales now making up 27% of all retail sales.
A scheme to relax Sunday trading laws was used to great effect during the 2012 London Olympics. The then-Business Secretary Sir Norman Lamb opted to suspend Sunday trading laws in England and Wales which led to a 3.2% rise in retail sales during the period in which they were suspended.
Equally, there are significant practical benefits to consumers from liberalisation, primarily through increased consumer choice as a higher quantity of retail outlets would be open. Additionally, consumers would have more choices when they decide to go shopping. This would positively impact the level of retail activity on our highstreets, as more shops being open would allow more flexible shopping at the convenience of the consumer. As well as this, the increased footfall from increased opening would – as previously mentioned – have clear economic benefits on their respective local economies.
Indeed, giving powers of liberalisation to Local Authorities would constitute one of the most significant transfers of policy power away from Westminster in recent memory. Local councils are already responsible for licensing which is in many ways compatible with powers over trading laws. This is because local councils already have the authority on entertainment licenses, off-licensing and other permissions tied to local business; they already have experience in making decisions based on the local economy and climate. This means that many councils will find the additional power to be relatively easy to adapt to.
A liberalisation of Sunday trading laws, while a relatively minor policy change compared to the recent workers’ rights or planning reform announcements, would be optically beneficial and demonstrate that the Government are backing the UK’s enterprising spirit – something that some Cabinet Ministers have been rather poor at recently. If the Government wants to prove they are backing British enterprise, then they should heed the calls of the London Businesses who are firmly in support of liberalisation – something that the previous Conservative Government and Current London Mayor Sadiq Khan are both against.
Of course, it is worth noting that there is an argument to be made that liberalising Sunday trading laws would have negative impacts on workers’ rights – particularly low-paid retail workers. However, the 1996 Employment Rights Act gives shop workers the right to opt out of working on Sundays if they so please. As part of Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, this right to opt out should be extended to all retail workers to ensure that liberalisation does not have unintended impacts – particularly on workers.
Politics is about choices, and the current Government has a choice of whether to project continual doom and gloom, clamp down on drinking and smoking at a great economic cost to the nightlife industry or back British enterprise, local communities and project hope at a time where it is much needed. Liberalisation of Sunday trading laws would be an easy win and should be a no-brainer.
Cormac Evans is a Member of Bright Blue and the Young Liberals Policy Committee. Views expressed in this article are those of the author, not necessarily those of Bright Blue.