Following an announcement in the Summer Budget, the government has launched a consultation on the devolution of powers in Sunday trading

On 5th August,  the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (BIS) and the Department of Communities and Local Government, (DCLG), launched the expected Consultation on devolving Sunday trading rules. The Executive Summary states:

“The current Sunday trading rules were established over 20 years ago in the Sunday Trading Act 1994 (‘the 1994 Act’).They limit the opening hours of large stores (those with a relevant floor area over 280 square metres / 3,000 square feet) to 6 hours on a Sunday. Smaller stores can open all day. But in the 20 years since the 1994 Act the internet has come of age and consumers can now order goods online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Internet sales now account for 11.5 per cent of all retail sales compared to just 2.8 per cent nearly a decade ago when this data was first collected, with the value of internet retail sales averaging £734 million a week in May 2015.” Continue reading →