Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the 2012 temporary liberalisation of Sunday trading regulations on its proposals for the devolution of such regulations to local authorities.

Anna Soubry

The ONS analysed the impact of the short term Olympic relaxation of the Sunday trading rules and found that it was not possible to make any inference from the data. They found no definite pattern amongst the growth rates of retail sales and noted that other factors, such as the weather and time of year, will have impacted sales.

In formulating its final proposals, the Government has carefully considered all the evidence submitted during the consultation process.