[ACNS] The Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council (MPA) has warned that a relaxation of the rules governing the number of hours that large stores can open on a Sunday would “erode common leisure time essential for family life”

Currently, large stores (over 280 square metres in size) in England and Wales can only open for up to six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm; but they must close on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.

In his Budget speech in the Spring, the Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to devolve powers to regulate in this area to local authorities – elected mayors or local councils – subject to a public consultation.

“The Church of England has consistently resisted attempts to make Sunday a shopping day like any other,” the C of E’s MPA said in its response to the consultation. “It has, however, never taken a rigorously Sabbatarian position which condemned all work undertaken on a Sunday, nor has it sought to impose Christian worship, or specific religious understandings of society, on others.”

It said that the C of E’s arguments have been based on three principles “which are shared by many people of other faiths, and of none.” These are the protection of vulnerable members of society, the importance for human well-being of having a rhythm of work and leisure, and the necessity of protecting time when people can undertake elective activities together.

“The consultation document alludes to the religious objections which some hold toward Sunday Trading,” the MPA say. “This does not adequately capture the Church of England’s position.

We are not motivated solely by our own interests or a desire to maximise participation in our own Sunday activities. Nor do our arguments start from revealed doctrines that are not accessible to non-believers.

“Our objections to extended Sunday shopping hours stem from our commitment as Christians, and as the national church, to the common good of all the communities of this country. We believe that a shared day of leisure for a critical mass of the population is a necessity if people are to be able to work together for the common good and that this will be damaged by further extending shop opening hours.

“The fact that the common day of leisure in Britain is Sunday reflects the Christian heritage of the nation. For those who are not Christians, the protection of one day of the week as a time of shared leisure remains important. The point at issue is not that Sunday is a uniquely and intrinsically ‘holy day’ but that society is diminished if all days are treated the same in commercial terms.”

The C of E’s response also suggests that devolving the decision to local authorities would be unfair, saying that mayors and local councils “are not in a position to negotiate on a level play field with some of the larger retail corporations.

“If local decision making is to be meaningful, local areas must be in a position to make decisions which would not be attractive to retailers, as well as decisions that retailers want. A way of testing the proposition is to ask what might happen if a local area wished to restrict Sunday opening to fewer hours that the 1994 Act permits.

“The fact that the consultation document nowhere imagines this possibility implies a covert assumption that the only decision a local area might be permitted to make is to extend hours. If that were the only option, it would be a mockery of local decision making.”

The C of E concludes that “much more thought is necessary before devolution of decision making is meaningful and we cannot support the proposals as currently framed.”

The consultation period on the proposals closed on the 16 September. The C of E’s response is dated September but was published today (15 October).