Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk seeking the views of Members on the Committee’s terms of reference and proposed frequency of meetings for 2020/21 and the Committee supported the current frequency of meetings being held 6 times a year.

The Committee considered the existing terms of reference and felt that they were not fit for purpose.  Members felt very strongly that the changes made to the Committee’s terms of reference by the Policy & Resources Committee in April 2019 had resulted in the Markets Committee not having overall oversight of the developing MCP.  This had also led to key information not always being communicated to the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Markets Committee Members in a timely manner. 

The Chairman stated that the Markets Committee was integral to the developing MCP and it was essential that the Markets Committee was retained with a higher profile to facilitate meaningful input onto the evolving MCP aspirations and to retain oversight of the management of the largest wholesale markets in the UK which were crucial to supplying traders and businesses across the country.  

The Chairman urged Members to make representations as part of the Governance Review and it was felt that the Markets Committee should be retained as a Ward Committee with a more significant role in leading the MCP, in close dialogue with the Chairmen of the Finance and Policy & Resources Committees and that the existing terms of reference be updated to reflect this.

The Chairman moved, the Deputy Chairman seconded, and it was

RESOLVED –   

1.     That the report be noted.

2.     That in light of the deliberations of the Markets Committee, the Policy & Resources Committee be recommended to alter the terms of reference of the Markets Committee to read as follows: (additional wording in emboldened italics)

“To be responsible for:

(a)        Oversight of the provision and management of all matters relating to Smithfield Market, Billingsgate Market and New Spitalfields Market and the letting of all premises therein.

(b)         The appointment of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection (acting jointly with the Port Health and Environmental Services and Licensing Committees).”

3.     That in light of the deliberations of the Markets Committee, the Policy & Resources Committee be recommended to retain the Markets Committee as a Ward Committee with a more significant role in leading the MCP, given that the Committee is integral to the management of the largest wholesale markets in the UK and the supply of traders and business nationally.