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Sunday Trading Act 1994

Consolidated Text As Enacted Cited authorities 48 Cited in Related
Vincent
Year1994


Sunday Trading Act 1994

1994 CHAPTER 20

An Act to reform the law of England and Wales relating to Sunday trading; to make provision as to the rights of shop workers under the law of England and Wales in relation to Sunday working; and for connected purposes.

[5th July 1994]

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Reform of law relating to Sunday trading.

1 Reform of law relating to Sunday trading.

(1) Schedules 1 and 2 to this Act shall come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint (in this section referred to as ‘the appointed day’).

(2) Sections 47 to 66 of, and Schedules 5, 6 and 7 to, the Shops Act 1950 shall cease to have effect on the appointed day.

S-2 Loading and unloading at large shops on Sunday morning.

2 Loading and unloading at large shops on Sunday morning.

(1) A local authority may by resolution designate their area as a loading control area for the purposes of this section with effect from a date specified in the resolution, which must be a date at least one month after the date on which the resolution is passed.

(2) A local authority may by resolution revoke any designation made by them under subsection (1) above.

(3) It shall be the duty of a local authority, before making or revoking any designation under subsection (1) above, to consult persons appearing to the local authority to be likely to be affected by the proposed designation or revocation (whether as the occupiers of shops or as local residents) or persons appearing to the local authority to represent such persons.

(4) Where a local authority make or revoke a designation under this section, they shall publish notice of the designation or revocation in such manner as they consider appropriate.

(5) Schedule 3 to this Act (which imposes restrictions on loading and unloading on Sunday before 9 a.m. at large shops in loading control areas) shall have effect.

S-3 Construction of certain leases and agreements.

3 Construction of certain leases and agreements.

(1) Where any lease or agreement (however worded) entered into before the commencement of this section has the effect of requiring the occupier of a shop to keep the shop open for the serving of retail customers—

(a) during normal business hours, or

(b) during hours to be determined otherwise than by or with the consent of the occupier,

that lease or agreement shall not be regarded as requiring, or as enabling any person to require, the occupier to open the shop on Sunday for the serving of retail customers.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not affect any lease or agreement—

(a) to the extent that it relates specifically to Sunday and would (apart from this section) have the effect of requiring Sunday trading of a kind which before the commencement of this section would have been lawful by virtue of any provision of Part IV of the Shops Act 1950 , or

(b) to the extent that it is varied by agreement after the commencement of this section.

(3) In this section ‘retail customer’ and ‘shop’ have the same meaning as in Schedule 1 to this Act.

S-4 Rights of shop workers as respects Sunday working.

4 Rights of shop workers as respects Sunday working.

4. Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect.

S-5 Exclusion of Part I of Shops Act 1950.

5 Exclusion of Part I of Shops Act 1950.

(1) Part I of the Shops Act 1950 (hours of closing) shall not apply on Sunday.

(2) In section 3 of that Act (by virtue of which Saturday is to be the late day unless the local authority by order fix some other day) for ‘some other day’ there shall be substituted ‘some other week day’.

(3) In section 12 of that Act (trading elsewhere than in shops) after ‘at any time’ there shall be inserted ‘on a week day’.

S-6 Consequential repeal or amendment of local Act.

6 Consequential repeal or amendment of local Act.

(1) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument—

(a) repeal any provision of a local Act passed before or in the same Session as this Act if it appears to him that the provision is inconsistent with or has become unnecessary in consequence of any provision of this Act, and

(b) amend any provision of such a local Act if it appears to him that the provision requires amendment in consequence of any provision of this Act or any repeal made by virtue of paragraph (a) above.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, before he makes an order under subsection (1) above repealing or amending any provision of a local Act, to consult each local authority which he considers would be affected by the repeal or amendment of that provision.

(3) A statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (1) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

S-7 Expenses.

7 Expenses.

7. There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament any increase attributable to this Act in the sums payable out of such money under any other Act.

S-8 Meaning of ‘local authority’.

8 Meaning of ‘local authority’.

(1) In this Act ‘local authority’ means any unitary authority or any district council so far as they are not a unitary authority.

(2) In subsection (1) above ‘unitary authority’ means—

(a) the council of any county so far as they are the council for an area for which there are no district councils,

(b) the council of any district comprised in an area for which there is no county council,

(c) a county borough council,

(d) a London borough council,

(e) the Common Council of the City of London, or

(f) the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

(3) Until 1st April 1996, the definition of ‘unitary authority’ in subsection (2) above shall have effect with the omission of paragraph (c).

S-9 Short title, repeals, commencement and extent.

9 Short title, repeals, commencement and extent.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Sunday Trading Act 1994.

(2) The enactments mentioned in Schedule 5 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(3) The following provisions of this Act—

sections 2 to 5,

subsection (2) of this section, and

Schedules 3, 4 and 5,

shall not come into force until the appointed day (as defined in section 1 above).

(4) This Act extends to England and Wales only.

S C H E D U L E

SCHEDULE 1

Restrictions on Sunday opening of large shops

Interpretation

Interpretation

SCH-1.1

1. In this Schedule—

‘intoxicating liquor’ has the same meaning as in the Licensing Act 1964,

‘large shop’ means a shop which has a relevant floor area exceeding 280 square metres,

‘medicinal product’ and ‘registered pharmacy’ have the same meaning as in the Medicines Act 1968,

‘relevant floor area’, in relation to a shop, means the internal floor area of so much of the shop as consists of or is comprised in a building, but excluding any part of the shop which, throughout the week ending with the Sunday in question, is used neither for the serving of customers in connection with the sale of goods nor for the display of goods,

‘retail customer’ means a person who purchases goods retail,

‘retail sale’ means any sale other than a sale for use or resale in the course of a trade or business, and references to retail purchase shall be construed accordingly,

‘sale of goods’ does not include—

(a) the sale of meals, refreshments or intoxicating liquor for consumption on the premises on which they are sold, or

(b) the sale of meals or refreshments prepared to order for immediate consumption off those premises,

‘shop’ means any premises where there is carried on a trade or business consisting wholly or mainly of the sale of goods, and

‘stand’, in relation to an exhibition, means any platform, structure, space or other area provided for exhibition purposes.

Large shops not to open on Sunday except in accordance with notice to local authority

Large shops not to open on Sunday except in accordance with notice to local authority

SCH-1.2

2.

(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) below, a large shop shall not be open on Sunday for the serving of retail customers.

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) above does not apply in relation to—

(a) any of the shops mentioned in paragraph 3(1) below, or

(b) any shop in respect of which a notice under paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 2 to this Act (shops occupied by persons observing the Jewish Sabbath) has effect.

(3) Where a notice under paragraph 4 below has effect in relation to a shop, sub-paragraph (1) above does not apply in relation to the shop during the permitted Sunday opening hours specified in the notice, but this sub-paragraph has effect subject to sub-paragraph (4) below.

(4) The exemption conferred by sub-paragraph (3) above does not apply where the Sunday is Easter Day or Christmas Day.

Exemptions

Exemptions

SCH-1.3

3.

(1) The shops referred to in paragraph 2(2)(a) above are—

(a) any shop which is at a farm and where the trade or business carried on consists wholly or mainly of the sale of produce from that farm,

(b) any shop where the trade or business carried on consists wholly or mainly of the sale of intoxicating liquor,

(c) any shop where the trade or business carried on consists wholly or mainly of the sale of any one or more of the following—

(i) motor supplies and accessories, and

(ii) cycle supplies and accessories,

(d) any shop which—

(i) is a registered pharmacy, and

(ii) is not open for the retail sale of any goods other than medicinal products and medical and surgical appliances,

(e) any shop at a designated airport which is situated in a part of the airport...

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