Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Christopher Hayward, Deputy Keith Knowles, Wendy Mead, James Tumbridge and Deputy Michael Welbank.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 8 May 2013 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 8 May 2013 were approved.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection (copy attached).

A joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection which compared the 2012/13 revenue outturn for the services overseen by this Committee with the final agreed budget for the year was considered. The report highlighted that the total net expenditure during the year was £5,674m whereas the total agreed budget was £6.059m representing an underspend of £0.385m.

The Senior Accountant clarified that the three wholesale Markets produced a combined operating surplus of £2.109m in 2012/13 with surpluses of £1.833m and £0.801 at Spitalfields and Billingsgate Markets respectively, which had been partly offset by a deficit of £0.525m at Smithfield Market. When capital charges and other central costs of £4.993m and £2.814 respectively are added, the overall cost to the City Corporation of operating the Markets was £5.698m in 2012/13.

A discussion took place and it was noted that there was a greater loss than budgeted at Smithfield Market due mainly to an increase in energy costs. In relation to underspends, the Senior Accountant reported that there was a process in place to allow underspends to be carried forward to the next financial year, subject to the agreement of the Chamberlain and Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Resource Allocation Sub Committee.

In relation to the presentation of the accounts, Members requested that these be presented in a conventional and clear manner in future. The Senior Accountant commented that it was not possible to alter the format of reporting as it followed the CIPFA regulations in place for reporting local authority accounts. An additional annex B was added to supplement this request.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection (copy attached).

A report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection updated Members on the enforcement activity carried out by the Smithfield Enforcement Team within the Markets & Consumer Protection Department and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) at Smithfield Market during the four month period from 1 February 2013 to 31 May 2013. The report also provided information on the National Local Authority Enforcement Code on Health & Safety, the on-going horsemeat in beef situation and the current FSA initiative.

The Port Health & Public Protection Director highlighted that there had been no major issues and that no issues had been raised in relation to horsemeat DNA but further sampling was continuing to take place.

A discussion took place on the FSA enforcement activity breakdown by company, it was noted that there had been cooling system issues at Smithfield Market and that stall 31 and 32 had now shown signs of improvement. Members requested that clarification be provided on whether the formal notices and written advice were in addition to the verbal advice.

In response to a question by a Member, the Port Health & Public Protection Director explained that the samples taken for investigating the presence of horse DNA in beef products had been in line with the FSA guidelines and looked at a variety of criteria which included undertaking a programme of unannounced visits at the Market to assess documentation, the origin of the meat product and physically examining the product.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Post meeting note

To clarify whether formal notices and written advice were in addition to the verbal advice as set out in Appendix A2 of the report the written advice in column B related to separate incidents, mainly issues that required attention following an audit. There had not been any formal notices issued over the

Verbal update by the Superintendent, Spitalfields Market.

The Superintendent of Spitalfields Market provided a verbal update on the recent visit by the Prime Minister of Tanzania. He reported that Sacoma Fresh Produce, which was a tenant at New Spitalfields Market, had operated as both a market stand to sell fruit and vegetables at a profit and also acted as a social enterprise and development/aid charity. The charity aimed to sell produce from small farm holders in Africa to send back more profit to African farmers and spend their own profits from sales to develop better packaging, farming and supply chain infrastructure to generate jobs in the local region to help create sustainable agriculture businesses and reduce poverty in Tanzania.

He explained that the Prime Minister had spent time at the market talking with representatives from Sacoma staff and other traders in the market looking at what could be done to encourage and support the export of Tanzania produce to Europe and to help create an agri-business in Tanzania.

RECEIVED

Markets Committee – Reports

In response to a question by a new Member of the Committee it was noted that background reports and minutes on the work of the Committee were able to be provided by the Town Clerk’s office.

Review of the work of the Markets Committee

In response to question on the work covered by the Markets Committee it was noted that a report, including a review of the previous arrangements and any proposed changes, would be submitted to the next Markets Committee meeting.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2013 (copy attached).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2013 were approved.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection (copy attached).

A report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection was considered and agreed.

Verbal update by the Superintendent, Smithfield Market.

The Superintendent of Smithfield Market provided a verbal update on the progress of the Smithfield Leases.

Report of the Superintendent, Billingsgate Market (To Follow).

A report of the Superintendent of Billingsgate Market was received.

There were no questions.

An item was raised in relation to the condenser water cooling system at Smithfield Market.