Poll: Should shops be allowed to open longer on a Sunday?

Chancellor George Osborne was today unveiling proposals to give elected mayors and councils the freedom locally to relax laws which prevent larger stores opening their doors for more than six hours in his first all-Conservative Budget.

But the plan has received short shrift from unions. And Ray Hickinbottom, chairman of the Federation of Small Business, warned it could negatively affect trade.

"Sunday opening, historically, has been more in line with the trading pattern of large businesses, rather than small retailers, as the latter often lack the resources needed to open seven days a week," he said.

"Small business owners also use their Sundays to catch up on paperwork and other essential non-customer facing jobs associated with running a business. Extended Sunday opening is unlikely to bring a great deal to smaller retailers.

"Of course, from the Chancellor's perspective, this is something that he can provide, which will be popular with the a huge slice of the electorate, without any financial impact on the Treasury."

Shropshire boasts large numbers of independent shops, with Shrewsbury's Parade Shopping Centre alone housing 30.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady also warned against the plans, saying: "Turning Sunday into another Saturday for major retailers would take precious family time away from shop workers. There is no pressure for this from shoppers and it may push some smaller retailers out of business."

Mr Osborne said: "Even two decades on from the introduction of the Sunday Trading Act, it is clear that there is still a growing appetite for shopping on a Sunday. There is some evidence that transactions for Sunday shopping are actually growing faster than those for Saturday."

Unions say they will "vigorously campaign against" plans to allow shops to open for longer on Sundays, claiming such a move would harm workers' family lives.

Mr Osborne said online shopping trends suggested there was a "growing appetite" for Sunday trading in high streets and retail parks, and a trial of longer hours during the London Olympics had proved a success.

The Treasury pointed to research by the New West End Company which found two extra hours in the capital alone would create nearly 3,000 jobs and generate over £200 million a year in additional sales.

Frances O'Grady said: "It's a sign of desperation that the Chancellor is trying to strengthen growth through shopping instead of manufacturing. We need a better economic plan than asking people to spend another day of the week putting debt on their credit cards."

John Hannett, general secretary of shopworkers' union Usdaw, said: "This Act is a great British compromise, which has worked well for over 20 years and gives everyone a little bit of what they want.

"Retailers can trade, customers can shop, staff can work, whilst Sunday remains a special day, different to other days, and shopworkers can spend some time with their family."

He added: "We will vigorously campaign against such a proposal and we would be looking for the Government to learn from their two consultations and failed trial period (during the London Olympics) by leaving alone the existing Sunday trading arrangements agreed by the main stakeholders in the retail industry."

However Adrian Pepper of the Open Sundays campaign group said relaxing Sunday trading laws made sense for modern-day families.

"It is now the norm for adults in most families to be in full time work so the only time they can shop is at the weekend. Restricting Sunday opening makes no sense," he said.

"The current Sunday trading laws do not preserve any valuable cultural aspects of our way of life. They just make life more inconvenient. If you want to go out early on a Sunday morning looking for a wide range of fresh produce to cook for a family Sunday lunch, you cannot. If you want to go to church on a Sunday morning, there is even less time to get the shopping done."

Small Business Minister Anna Soubry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I want to listen to what the unions have to say and obviously I'm concerned if they say it will put pressure on workers.

"But I don't think they are right, actually. This is all about devolving power down to local authorities who are more than capable of being able to make a decision that suits their area."

Ms Soubry dismissed critics of the move as "harking back to a world that probably didn't exist" adding "you can still have family life, but you can still have shopping".

"We are of that generation where Sunday, truthfully, was the most miserable day of the week," the 58-year-old minister told Today's John Humphrys. "The only thing to look forward to was Sing Something Simple on the radio. Goodness me, if that didn't sum up a miserable Sunday."

She warned that the UK's cities risked being left behind as international rivals extended their trading hours.

"If we look at London and we look at other capitals, they are certainly moving to seven-day opening ... pretty much all hours. We have got to be able to compete with great cities like Paris because London is a fabulous capital and we want to make sure it's the best in the world."

Freed from the constraints of five years of coalition with the Liberal Democrats, Mr Osborne will use his second Budget of the year to show where he has found £12 billion of welfare savings promised in the Conservative manifesto.