Agenda item

            The Chief Executive submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

 

1.1        The purpose of this report is to:

 

-       update the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on the findings from the public consultation as to whether Belfast City Council should designate the Belfast district (or the city centre) as a ‘holiday resort’ under Article 6 of the Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

-       to seek a decision from Members on whether to proceed with a ‘holiday resort’ designation

 

            The effect of such a designation would be to provide large shops with an option to extend their Sunday trading hours in the city centre on up to 18 Sundays (other than Easter Sunday) between 1 March and 30 September in any calendar year.   Such a designation may not come into effect until at least one month after the resolution of the Council. 

 

            Deputations

 

            Members will note that the SP&R Committee have agreed to receive deputations from Usdaw and Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce and both organisations have confirmed their attendance.  Further requests have since been received from Retail NI and Visit Belfast to present at the meeting and it will be a matter for the Committee to decide whether or not it agrees to receive a presentation from representatives of both Retail NI and Visit Belfast along with the two previously agreed deputations from Usdaw and BCTC.

 

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

 

(i)     note the contents of the report including the findings from the public consultation which concluded on 5 May 2017.

(ii)   provide approval for the Council to make a ‘holiday resort’ designation under Article 6 of the Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

(iii)make a decision as to whether to apply the designation to either

 

a)     the entire Belfast City Council district area, or

b)     Belfast City Centre only (based on the BMAP definition of the city centre.

 

3.0       Main report

 

3.1       The initial proposal was made in response to a strong lobby within the city to designate Belfast as a ‘holiday resort’ area in order to improve the tourism offering in Belfast (particularly on a Sunday morning), to boost the local economy and to support the overall regeneration of the city centre. 

 

            The principle of additional Sunday opening hours for large shops in ‘holiday resort’ areas was established under Article 6 of the Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (copy attached at Appendix 1).  Article 6 was included in the 1997 Order as an additional exemption to allow large shops in tourist areas to avail of the additional tourist trade over the summer months.   A range of areas and towns in Northern Ireland have been designated and remain as “holiday resorts” for this purpose including Derry-Londonderry, Newry, Kilkeel, Portrush, Portstewart and Ballycastle. 

 

            Belfast, as a growing tourist destination in both Northern Ireland and wider afield may similarly wish to avail of this exemption.  There is nothing in this proposal which will result in any change in existing legislation or further ‘deregulation’ of Sunday trading law.

 

3.2       Requirement to consult

 

            Any designation as a ‘holiday resort’ must be done by resolution of the Council.  The legislation states that before making a designation the Council must first consult persons likely to be affected by the proposed designation. 

 

            At the SP&R Meeting of 21 October 2016 Members agreed to undertake a public consultation seeking views on whether to designate the Belfast district (or part of the district such as the city centre) as a ‘holiday resort’.

 

3.3       Consultation

 

            Following initial engagement with representatives from within the city’s retail industry, council officers received feedback indicating that it would be prudent to carry out pre-consultation engagement with all interested parties for a period of 4 weeks prior to the issue of the formal consultation. 

 

            Council officers engaged with a range of organisations during the pre-consultation period including BCCM, Belfast One BID, USDAW, Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Translink, PSNI, Retail NI, Belfast City Council Equality Consultative Forum and the NI Retail Consortium to elicit their opinions and shape the consultation questions.  The Council also contacted the NI Interfaith Forum to alert them of the forthcoming consultation and offered to meet with them.

 

A formal consultation was commenced on 10 March 2017 on Citizen Space, the Council’s online consultation platform for a further 8-week period closing on 5 May 2017. 

 

            A list of consultees has been circulated for information. (The Council also consulted with all of those representatives on the Equality and Disability consultee list as part of the Screening Exercise).       

 

            Responses to The Consultation

3.4       In total, 2471 people and organisations responded to the consultation.

 

            Some 1858 responses were collected via Citizen Space (the council’s online consultation tool), with the remaining 613 responses being comprised mainly of emails (434) and written correspondence (177).  There was also one phone call and one petition received.

 

            Whilst it is possible to undertake a detailed analysis of the responses received via the Citizen Space online tool, it is not possible to undertake a comparative analysis on the email and written correspondence as they did not cover the question areas set out in the online questionnaire.  However, all the responses received have been examined and can be attributed as being either in support or against the proposal according to their content.

 

            Key Findings From The Consultation

 

3.5       With regards to the priority question in the consultation –

 

            Should Belfast be designated as a holiday resort in order to provide large shops with the option to extend Sunday trading hours?

 

            Of the total 2471 people and organisations who responded to the consultation:

 

·        1531 answered yes (62%)

·        934 answered no (38%)

·        5 did not answer

 

 

3.6       With regards to the second question in the consultation –

 

            What area should the designation apply to?

 

            Of the total 1858 people and organisations who responded via the Citizen Space online tool:

 

·        1398 indicated all of the Belfast City Council area (75.2%)

·        291 indicated Belfast City Centre only (15.7%)

·        169 did not answer (9.1%)

 

 

 

3.7       The third question in the consultation asked –

 

            Do you think Belfast would be more attractive as a tourist and/or shopping and leisure destination if the restrictions on Sunday opening times for larger shops were removed?

 

            Of the total 1858 people and organisations who responded via the Citizen Space online tool:

 

·        1515 agreed with this statement (81.4%)

·        294 disagreed with the statement (15.8%)

·        49 did not answer (2.6%)

 

            Consultees were offered the opportunity to provide reasons for their answer. 

 

            Those agreeing with the statement cited reasons such as this would boost tourism, would provide tourists with an activity to do, the current restrictions are outdated and it would make Belfast feel like a modern international city.

 

            The reasons given by respondents who disagreed with the statement included those who felt that there are enough other attractions available for tourists, shopping is not a tourist consideration and the current trading hours are sufficient or changes would be unlikely to have an impact.

 

     

     

            Tourism NI have indicated that they would position Sunday trading within the context of meeting visitor expectations and providing a range of things to do and see.  They acknowledge that flexibility around trading hours sits within a broader debate about what other initiatives are required to make our city centres more attractive and vibrant so that they both help position Northern Ireland competitively on the international stage and encourage local residents to come to them. 

 

            Visitor surveys regularly indicate that a lack of range of things to do in the evenings and on Sundays is a weakness with a negative impact on the overall visitor experience.

 

            Keeping the issue of flexibility on trading hours to the forefront is important not least for any future major tourism events.

 

3.8       Location of respondents

 

            With regards to the location of those respondents completing the survey, some 23% stated that they were from within Belfast, 21% stated that were from outside of Belfast and 56% did not provide information on their location.

     

 

            Next Steps

 

3.9       Making the Designation

 

            Should the Council decide to make the designation, they must do so by resolution of the Council and the designation cannot take effect until at least one month after the date on which the resolution is passed.  Therefore, if the resolution was passed at the 1 June Council meeting then the designation could not take effect until 1 July 2017.  

 

 

3.10     How would the Exemption be Applied

 

            To make use of the exemption, the occupier or proposed occupier of a large shop must notify the local District Council of the dates of the Sundays involved.  The notification does not take effect until 14 days from the date it is given, unless the Council agrees that it should come into effect earlier.

 

            A Council must maintain a register of shops in its district making use of this exemption and make the register available to the public at all reasonable times.

 

            The Council may not dictate which Sunday’s the large shop may open on (within the designated dates) nor the opening or closing times.  Having made the ‘holiday resort’ designation the council’s role according to the legislation will be keep a register of the large shops making use of the exemption in addition to their existing enforcement role in respect of Sunday trading.

 

3.11     A co-ordinated approach

 

            If the Council decides to proceed with the designation, the Council will wish to work with key partners including the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Belfast One and Visit Belfast to ensure the effective promotion of the additional hours and to consider the potential impact on city animation due to the additional visitors to the city on that day.

 

            For example, if a major event is taking place in the city over a particular weekend during the summer months, then the Council would aim to ensure that the event would be promoted alongside a programme of supporting activities.  The city would effectively be ‘open for business’ across entire weekend thereby maximising the tourism offering in the city and providing the option for both small and large retail stores to avail of the additional visitors into the city whilst the event is taking place. 

 

            Likewise, the retail and business partners have been working on the proposals for increased marketing and promotion in order to raise awareness of the change in opening hours, if agreed.  It is likely that the majority of retailers will want to open from 11am.  The closing hours are likely to remain unchanged.

 

 

3.12     Employment provisions

 

            Concerns about the impact of additional Sunday trading on the rights of shop workers was a major issue during the drafting of the original legislation in 1997.  To counter these concerns Article 11 and Schedule 2 of the Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 was included to provide employment rights for shop workers, except those contracted to work only on Sundays.  They aim to ensure that shop workers are not compelled to work on Sundays against their wishes.  The rights apply irrespective of age, length of service or hours of work.

 

            The Schedule provides that dismissal of a shop worker (including dismissal for reasons of redundancy) is unfair if the reason for it was the worker’s refusal to work on Sundays.  It also provides the right not to suffer any other detriment (such as denial of normal promotion of training opportunities, or refusal to pay seniority bonuses, etc.) for refusing to work on Sundays.  All shop workers who enter into a contract of employment requiring Sunday working are able to ‘opt out’ of Sunday working subject to giving the employer three month’s notice.  Enforcement of the employment rights is by way of complaint to an industrial tribunal.

 

            Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.13     There will be financial and resource implications for both the Development Department and the Planning and Place Department should the Council designate the council area as a holiday resort under Article 6 of the 1997 Order. 

 

            The Building Control Service currently perform the enforcement role in relation to Sunday trading under the 1997 Order and the designation of the Belfast district as a ‘holiday resort’ would require an additional level of resource to manage the registration of participating shops and enforcement of same.

 

            The Development Department may need to consider how existing resources are re-focused to promote change in opening hours.  This may include additional city animation or promotional activities.  There may also be a request for additional financial support to supplement planned marketing activity.  This will have to be found from existing resources.

 

 

            Equality or Good Relations Implications

 

3.14     A draft Equality Screening exercise was undertaken during pre-consultation process.  This document was shared on Citizens Space to help elicit views from respondents.  The draft screening exercise highlighted minor impacts on the Religious Beliefs and Dependents categories.  As part of the online consultation, respondents were asked if they were aware of any equality and / or good relations implications that should be considered around potentially extending Sunday trading.

 

            There were 454 responses to this question via the online consultation.  Some respondents made more than one point.  The most frequently cited thematic areas are listed below:

 

·        Some people can't work on a Sunday due to religious commitments /going to church/family commitments but will feel obliged/pressured to do so if changes are implemented.   159

·        Extended Sunday opening during the summer will provide economic opportunities and conveys a positive cosmopolitan image to visitors/tourists.  97

·        If implemented, extending Sunday trading hours during summer months will provide additional choice for residents and tourists that want to shop on Sundays, for businesses that wish to open and people that want to work on Sundays.  70

·        Religious beliefs/current laws should not restrict those who wish to shop on a Sunday  51

·        Family life will be affected if Sunday trading is implemented.  There will be a negative impact on retail workers who are carers/have children.  36

·        Extended Sunday trading conflicts with personal Christian religious views/faith beliefs  34

 

            Information elicited from the consultation will be used to inform and update the Equality Screening document in line with members’ decision.”

 

            The Chief Executive outlined the main aspects of the report, including the proposed additional trading hours for a minimum of 18 Sundays per year; the prime focus of the proposals, which was tourism spend; the survey results (in which the majority of those surveyed supported the extended hours); details of other Northern Ireland based Local Authorities which had applied the 1997 Order; and the protection already built into the legislation for shop workers who do not wish to work on Sundays.  She explained that there was also a requirement for the Council to consider, if it was minded to designate Belfast as a holiday resort, the area it wished to designate, that is, the whole Belfast area or the City centre as based on the BMAP definition.

 

            She reminded the Committee that it had already acceded to requests for deputations from Usdaw and the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce.  However, there were two additional requests from Retail NI and Visit Belfast and the Committee would need to decide on whether or not to receive them.

 

            The Committee agreed to receive the two additional deputations.