2 Introduction
2. On 14 October 2003 the Government laid before
Parliament a proposal for the Regulatory Reform (Sunday Trading)
Order 2004 in the form of a draft of an order and an explanatory
memorandum from the Department for Trade and Industry (the Department).[1]
The proposed regulatory reform order would amend two separate
and unrelated pieces of primary legislation, both of which relate
to shops which trade on Sundays.
3. Proposal A would amend the Sunday Trading
Act 1994 (the 1994 Act) in order to remove the requirement on
the occupiers of certain shops to notify the relevant local authority
of the hours they intend the shop to open for trading on a Sunday.
4. Proposal B would amend the Revenue Act
1889 (the 1889 Act) to repeal the provision which prohibits methylated
spirit from being sold between 10pm on a Saturday and 8am on a
Monday.
5. The House has instructed us to examine the overall
proposal against the criteria specified in Standing Order No.
141(6) and then, in the light of that examination, to report whether
the Government should proceed, whether amendments should be made,
or whether the order should not be made.[2]
6. Our discussion of matters arising from our examination
is set out below. Where a criterion specified in Standing Order
No. 141(6) is not discussed in the report, this indicates that
we have no concerns to raise about that criterion. In the course
of our examination, we requested further information from the
Department about a number of issues relating to the proposal.
The Department's response is reproduced at Appendix B.
1 Copies of the proposal are available to Members of
Parliament from the Vote Office and to members of the public from
the Department. The proposal is also available on the Cabinet
Office website: Error! Bookmark not defined. Back
2
Standing Order No. 141(2) Back
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