Government failing to regulate supermarkets, says new report8 May 2003
Friends of the Earth welcomed the publication of Checking out the supermarkets II, a report by Liberal Democrat MP Colin Breed into the practices and problems of supermarket retailing. Friends of the Earth said that it highlighted the lack of Government action to address the problems associated with the dominance of the big supermarket chains.
The report, which comes as the Competition Commission grapples with the pros and cons of allowing Safeway to be taken over by a rival supermarket, describes the range of problems already associated with the concentration of power in this sector. It also shows how supermarkets have been allowed to grow at the expense of the public interest, undermining local economies, eroding consumer choice and creating problems for people with no access to a car. The plight of UK farmers struggling to make a living against the unreasonable demands of the supermarkets is also stressed.
One policy area which comes under particular criticism in the report is the planning system. Although Planning Policy Guidance (PPG6) was revised in 1996, with the specific objective of protecting town centres, Breed's report points out that the destruction of local economies has continued apace. The call for an overhaul of planning guidance to deal with the dominance of the big chains and their incursion into every aspect of retailing is again very well timed, with PPG6 currently up for revision and a new Planning Bill progressing through Parliament.
Speaking at the report's launch, Friends of the Earth Real Food Campaigner, Sandra Bell described how Asda/Wal-Mart is making a mockery of planning guidance by exploiting a loophole in the planning system. By installing mezzanine floors in existing Asda stores for non-food goods, the company does not even have to submit a planning application to the local authority. This leaves the local authority powerless to assess the impact of the expansion on local shops or traffic levels, and local communities with no say in the development.
"This report is very timely," said Sandra Bell. "The Government is currently grappling with the pros and cons of a Safeway takeover and the updating of our planning system. Politicians must sit up and take notice of this litany of negative impacts from the rise of the big supermarkets. If supermarkets are so beneficial, why have we ended up with more food poverty, struggling local economies, farmers leaving the land, and less choice of where to shop?"
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