Budget "shake-up" to create thousands of jobs

The Chancellor of the Exchequer will use his first Budget in a Conservative majority Government to announce a shake-up of Sunday trading laws. 

George Osborne will announce that decisions over Sunday trading hours will now be decided by local councils and elected mayors. Under current legislation, shops with a floor space larger than 3,000sq ft are only allowed to trade for six hours between 10am and 6pm. 

This move could lead to round-the-clock shopping on Sunday. This was trialled during the London 2012 Olympics, when there was a sharp increase in sales. 

Research suggests that extending Sunday trading hours by just two hours could create 3,000 jobs in London. This would generate an extra £200million in revenue for the capital alone.