Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill [Lords]

Debate between Baroness Coffey and Gordon Henderson

Monday 30th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Gordon Henderson]

I accept that there are people in the retail trade who want to work on a Sunday, and of course those people already have the opportunity to do so. [Interruption.] Yes, I do. Stores are allowed to open on a Sunday for six hours between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm. Major stores are open. Small stores of under 3,000 square feet are allowed to open any time on a Sunday. If people in retail want to work on Sunday, there is always the opportunity to do so. We are not talking about that; we are talking about relaxing the rules still further.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that stores are not allowed to open on Easter Sunday, and the world did not stop on that day?

[Gordon Henderson]

I could not agree more. The special nature of Sunday was recognised by the Sunday Trading Act 1994, which restricted opening hours to the times that I mentioned. It is worth pointing out that in recent years, some larger stores have tried to bend the rules by opening an hour earlier for what is called browsing time, during which time shoppers can fill up their baskets but cannot put those goods through the till. It is such tactics that make many workers suspicious of the proposals to suspend Sunday trading restrictions during the Olympics and Paralympics. I fear that many retail chains will feel that the proposals give them the green light to campaign more vigorously for restrictions to be dropped permanently.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Coffey and Gordon Henderson

Tuesday 28th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

1. What steps he is taking to reduce the sums spent from the public purse on repeated appeals in immigration tribunals.

[Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)]

11. What steps he is taking to reduce the sums spent from the public purse on repeated appeals in immigration tribunals.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Jonathan Djanogly)]

As announced in our response to the consultation “Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales”, published on 21 June, we are removing most immigration cases, including appeals, from the scope of legal aid. We are also removing legal aid for certain repeat judicial reviews in immigration and asylum cases, subject to certain exceptions. We expect those measures to save more than £20 million a year. The Government have also consulted on introducing fees for appeals to the immigration and asylum chamber of the tribunal.