Shops (Regulation of Opening) (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations 201-
Report
Introduction
On the 21st July 2011, the States approved the Shops (Regulation of Opening) (Jersey) Regulations 2011 (the Regulations). These created a framework for the administration of Sunday trading under the Shops (Regulation of Opening and Deliveries) (Jersey) Law 2010.
Under this legislation shops are not generally allowed to open on Sundays and other specified days (Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday & Liberation Day), but the Regulations provide for a permit scheme which creates a reasonably permissive regime for shops with a ‘retail sales area’ of less than 700m², (smaller shops) and a more restrictive regime for those larger than that size (larger shops).
The 700m² size (increased from 500m² by amendment of Deputy Martin) was intended to place some limitation on the potential disruption caused by Sunday trading. In developing this limitation it seemed logical to assume that the larger the shop, the larger the disruption. Traffic management issues were also significant for some of these larger shops, as in the case of garden centres.
The amendment seeks to allow a more flexible (but still somewhat restrictive) trading regime for large shops. The Minister has considered the responses to the public consultation run in February and March this year, and has made changes to the proposed trial in light of the concerns raised. The amendment also makes a minor change to the application system to remove unnecessary red tape.
Additionally, the Minister recognises the concerns regarding the effect on retail workers of any expansion of Sunday trading, and he will request that the Social Security Minister bring forward a change to the law in this area to allow workers to opt out of Sunday working if they so wish.
The current situation
Regulation 6 of the Shops (Regulation of Opening) (Jersey) Regulations 2011 describes three types of permit,
- a general permit
- a single permit
- a blanket permit
General Permit
These may be granted to smaller shops and authorise the opening of a shop on Sundays, Good Fridays, Liberation Day and the 26th December, or any combination of those days. Conditions can be imposed to control opening hours, deliveries etc. The permits run until the 31st December of the year in which they are issued. A general permit cannot be granted in respects of larger shops, and cannot allow a shop to open on Christmas Day.
Single Permit
Larger shops can only open on single, not general permits, which can authorise its opening on a particular date or dates specified in the permit, up to five days per year. Single permits cannot allow a shop to open on Christmas Day or 26th December.
Blanket permit
A blanket permit authorises the opening of all shops a Connétable may specify in a parish, on any ‘special occasion’ as specified in the permit. The Economic Development Minister must define a day as a special occasion (by Order) before such permits can be granted.
Currently, the four Sundays before Christmas in every year are designated as special occasions, allowing blanket permits to be issued by the Connétables on an annual basis around the Fete de Noué.
Taken together, the Regulations provide that most businesses are able to apply for general permit and trade every Sunday, while larger shops are able to trade on up to nine Sundays in any year, including the four established as special occasions in the run up to Christmas.
Temporary effects of this amendment
This amendment to the Regulations will temporarily suspend the provision which prevents larger shops from applying for a general permit. This will allow them to trade every Sunday if they wish, subject to the agreement of the relevant Connétable and to any conditions he/she imposes.
This less restrictive permit scheme will be balanced by a limitation on the hours during which larger shops can trade, in line with current legislation in the UK. Under the trial scheme, larger shops will have the option of opening for up to six hours on Sundays between 10.00 am and 6.00 pm.
There will be a higher fee of £250 for larger shops applying for a general permit, rather than the £50 charge for smaller shops. This reflects the additional benefit to the applicant and the additional consideration which the Connétable must undertake in determining the permit application.
Permits applied for during the trial period will expire on 31st December 2014, despite having been applied for later in the year. While it is acknowledged that this makes those permits more costly per week of trading, the benefits of trading and the relative size of the fee ought not to present this as a considerable barrier.
Permanent effect of this amendment
If approved, this amendment will have one permanent effect. The Minister has been informed by numerous small shops that the need for a surveyor’s plan to accompany permit applications is overly bureaucratic and represents a cost to smaller shops that is usually higher than the application fee itself.
The Regulations contain provision for the Connétable to investigate shops applying for a permit and to and verify the accuracy of any documents supplied by them. There is also a penalty for making false declarations for that purpose. With these safeguards in place the Minister has decided to remove some red tape from the application system by eliminating the need for a surveyor’s plan.
The Connétable will be responsible for establishing to his/her own satisfaction that the shop is of a particular size. For the vast majority of shops this will take little effort.
The arguments
The exact balance between the economic costs and benefits of allowing the remaining shops in Jersey to open on a Sunday is unclear (and that is one of the reasons the proposal is for a trial period). However, with economic growth objectives focused on raising productivity across the economy there does not appear to be a strong economic case for keeping such regulation in place.
The aims of the proposed de-regulation of the current Sunday trading scheme are to realise the following potential benefits:
- Allow all retailers the opportunity to compete with internet shopping on a Sunday and also to maximise the benefit from the visitor market.
- Provide job opportunities for those who want to work on a Sunday and currently cannot.
- Allow competition between all retailers on a Sunday and the benefits this can bring consumers.
- Maximise efficiency and productivity across the whole retail sector, including reduced congestion and queuing at busier times and reduced wastage for retailers selling perishable goods.
- Improve consumer choice and convenience by allowing those who want to shop in the larger stores on a Sunday to do so.
- To support tourism as a vital part of the Island’s economy by capturing revenue from visitors on Sundays.
It is recognised that there are potential costs that could result from the extension of Sunday trading to the remaining larger stores, such as:
- While there is the potential to increase revenues for some retailers there is also the potential to increase variable costs and it is not necessarily the case that the increase in costs will be outweighed by the increase in revenues either for the retail sector as a whole or for individual retailers.
- Shops may be forced to open on a Sunday just to match other stores that do so. (However, some small shops that don’t open on a Sunday but want to will be able to during the trial).
- Smaller shops (some of which may already be facing difficult trading conditions) could lose out to competition from the larger stores on a Sunday.
- Some Islanders may face increased social costs from the impact of additional Sunday trading either directly or indirectly.
- Some employees may feel they have to offer to work on a Sunday when they would otherwise choose not to do so.
Public consultation
The Economic Development Minister acknowledges that trading on a Sunday is an emotive issue and not just about the economic benefits and costs. This was clearly demonstrated by the response to the public consultation which ran during February and March of this year.
151 responses to the consultation were received and opinion was split fairly evenly with 54% of respondents not in favour of the trial. The main concerns cited were as follows:
Most popular reasons given for opposition to trial de-regulation | % of respondents cited |
Negative impact on family or social life | 52% |
Keep Sunday special | 40% |
Business will just be spread over 7 days instead of 6 | 35% |
Unfair on retail staff | 23% |
Religious reasons | 17% |
Of those who were in favour of the trial the most popular themes were:
Most popular reasons given for supporting the trial de-regulation | % of respondents cited |
Shoppers & retailers should have the choice | 29% |
Good for the economy & assistance for retail sector | 28% |
Give visitors something to do on Sundays | 19% |
More time for families to shop at weekends | 17% |
Brings Jersey into the 21st century | 13% |
Within the industry there also appears to be a division of opinion as to whether or not the relaxation of Sunday trading regulations would improve commercial activity. Those businesses that did respond to the consultation were passionate one way or the other.
These findings are backed up by the fact that despite only a small number of shops in St. Helier being excluded from Sunday trading under a general permit in the existing framework, the vast majority choose not to open on Sundays even though they are able to. There is an argument which suggests that without the lure of the ‘flagship’ shops the town centre does not attract high enough volumes of shoppers to make it worth the while of the smaller shops to open. The trial should establish whether this is the case.
Response to the consultation, changes to the proposed trial
Protection for retail workers
As noted above, some 23% of those respondents against the trial raised concerns that it would be unfair on retail staff to change the Sunday trading regime. Additionally, 52% cited the negative impact on family or social life as a reason against. In many cases, the concern was for the impact on families with members working in retail, rather than the impact of simply having shops open.
The Minister recognises that there is real and well-founded concern about the implications for retail workers, given the lack of any specific legislative protection for employees with regard to working on Sundays in Jersey. The Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 ensures that employees have a ‘weekly rest period’ of not less than 24 hours in any 7 day period, or a rest period of 48 hours in any 14 day period but makes no specific allowance for employees not to be discriminated against should they decline to work on a Sunday.
Resource Implications:
There are no financial, property, ICT or human resources implications associated with this ministerial decision.
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