Actions for local government
107. We certainly do not underestimate the challenge
facing local authorities who wish to support and develop their
local markets. Particularly where they are not making a profit,
they clearly need to think carefully whether the continued presence
of a market is a greater priority than the other challenges they
face. Councils
need to have a clear strategic vision of how they intend to secure
the long-term sustainability of their markets.
It may, for instance, be impossible to secure the long-term viability
of all local markets, and better to close down non-viable markets
now so that resources can be directed to those with a better chance
of survival in the longer-term. However, in a small town, a local
market can still provide many if not all of the benefits identified
in the second section of our Report, particularly the important
social cohesion function, so
we encourage those local authorities who retain a market to review
very carefully the other options available to them before they
elect to close it down. One option, as in the previous section,
would be to create a market champion on the council, possibly
aligned with the town centre management function. Smaller councils
should also explore the feasibility of sharing a market champion
to oversee markets in more than one locality.
108. Given the
vital importance—when one or two key stalls can make all
the difference—of attracting the right mix of stalls and
market traders, smaller local authorities should also place particular
emphasis on employing a market operator capable of building up
a sustainable market. One problem here
is that, particularly in smaller councils, markets are often managed
at the site level from departments in the council that have no
special expertise in markets. In her research paper, Professor
Sophie Watson cited the example of Lowestoft market, where the
market site was managed by the person in charge of car parking.
The suggestion from a number
of our witnesses, which we think is a good one, was that local
councils might need to look to the private sector to find such
a person. Michael Felton explained that
where local markets are successful it is often "because they
have a dedicated man known as a 'toby' in charge of the market
who is employed by a private operator. He probably works something
like five markets a week, moving from place to place. His sole
occupation in life is to set up a market, get it advertised, get
the traders in, interest the public and get the thing working,
and for that he gets a salary and a bonus depending upon turnover."[186]
Given that a 'toby' can run
more than one market, we recommend that the local councils of
neighbouring market towns consider a cost-saving joint-employment
arrangement. If local authorities do
not wish to use the private sector, then they can draw on NABMA's
advice service, something we consider in more detail in the next
section.
109. Local authorities
should also consider carefully the location of their markets,
particularly in the light of the AMT study cited above.
In his evidence, Chris New stressed the importance of place, observing
that:
I have been working, for instance, in Hereford lately,
where we are putting a new open market into the pedestrianised
precinct in Hereford, lifting it out of the outskirts, cattle
market position where it is doing badly and bringing it into a
new city centre position where it will be a great service to the
community and bring vitality to that city centre.
Linked to this, there is also evidence that councils
need to consider more carefully developments that they authorise
around markets. Chris Hurdman graphically explained the problems
that can arise for market traders from relatively minor council
decisions, when the implications for market traders are not thought
through. He observed, for instance, that in Thame, a long street
market in a high street, simply moving his stall "four stalls
up or 40 foot down" could have an impact as regular customers,
used to finding him in the same location, fail to find him. He
also told us that "I had a trader come to me a month before
Christmas, or thereabouts, in tears because they had put a CCTV
camera space right in the middle of where his stall was, four
weeks before Christmas", the location of the CCTV physically
preventing him from putting up his stall. He commented:
What they [the council] do not see is the effect
that would have on a man that trades on that particular market
for two days out of five. You are, effectively, saying: 'Do something
else. Go on the dole.[187]
As Chris Hurdman's examples indicate, small
decisions can make a big impact, and a heartfelt plea from much
of our market trader evidence was that councils needed to include
them in consultation when they were considering changes to the
market environment- a plea which we endorse.
110. We
see one further option that councils with local markets should
explore, namely the potential for greater partnership working,
including non-council streams of funding, to further joint goals.
We believe that lower tier authorities, possibly in conjunction
with upper tier authorities, can—on a smaller scale—pursue
the same wider objectives (healthy eating, community cohesion
etc) as metropolitan councils. We
were disappointed to hear that this was an area which some local
councils with local markets had not so far explored.
111. In the last two sections, we have focused primarily
on the role of local authorities in supporting a diverse range
of markets. We have seen that there are a number of actions that
councils can take to improve their chances of success in relation
to their markets regardless of the size either of the council
or the market. One theme we have explored is the benefits of
partnership working, and we shall explore this further in our
next section, which considers in more detail the role of the various
components of the market industry.
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