Content

RESOLVED:
 
This report recommends that
Cabinet:
 
1. 
Approves
the final draft of the Market Strategy 2024-2029 and the
recommendations contained within (as set out in Appendix 1) to be
actioned and 
implemented.
 
2. 
Delegates
Authority to the Director Environment and Climate Change (formerly
Strategic Director Sustainability and Public Realm) to approve any
add ons or amendments to the Market
Strategy 2024-2029 following Cabinet approval.
 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
The last Markets Strategy (2017-2020) focused on the
financial sustainability of individual markets by promoting and
increasing awareness of all locations to grow and retain occupancy
rates. The Strategy was approved with a budget of £1.4m to
deliver actions that mainly focused on getting the markets to be
self-sustainable, as the Service was running at a deficit for many
years. The successful delivery of this Strategy saw the service
achieve a break-even financial position consistently, but also saw
the market portfolio and commercial opportunity grow exponentially,
which contributed to driving local employment within
Hackney.
 
The final draft Markets Strategy for 2024-2029 was
carefully curated through extensive surveys, engagement and
research to identify the needs and aspirations of the community
consisting of members of the public and Hackney market traders. The
Strategy will concentrate on maintaining and developing what has
been achieved by exploring new opportunities to increase the market
and street trading locations, reviewing additional operating days,
and introducing new licenses to encourage regeneration and local
employment within the Borough.
 
The Strategy will follow an Action Plan to ensure the
Market Service takes specific measures to reduce the number of
illegal trading activities by educating those who want to work and
assisting them in obtaining the necessary licence(s), thereby
encouraging all licenced businesses and traders to maximise their
income opportunities. It will also support our traders by providing
them with necessary entrepreneurial skills training, mental health
support and an opportunity to expand their business in different
street trading locations/ types of markets.
 
The Markets Service was able to use the approved budget to
deliver the Markets Strategy 2017-2020 that made a major impact on
local employment, but was unable to reach its full potential due to
lack of resources and financial constraints. The new Strategy aims
to exceed the proven achievements but to also secure the long term
sustainability of the markets by supporting several of the
mayor’s manifesto commitments and by activating other
locations within the borough for commercial use:
 
We will develop a Hackney Nights Strategy to provide
clarity to residents and businesses on our approach, including
supporting growth while tackling antisocial behaviour and crime in
partnership with the police.
 
We will build community wealth and create opportunities
where residents are the first to benefit as the local economy
recovers and reopens - ensuring more of the jobs, opportunities,
growth and money spent in Hackney stays in Hackney.
 
We will ensure that goods and services are procured locally
and sustainably, securing good jobs and opportunities for local
people. We will also link this with our ambition to create green
jobs for Hackney residents, and we will refresh the Council’s
Sustainable Procurement Strategy to include principles such as an
end to Fire and Rehire, promotion of the London Living Wage, a
focus on tackling climate change and enabling local people to
access future net zero jobs.
 
We will work to expand the Chatsworth Road street
market.
 
[We will] explore with local businesses and residents a new
street market for Stoke Newington Church Street.
 
[We will] continue to explore and grow new smaller street
trading areas around Hackney.
 
We will ensure the street markets at Ridley Road, Hoxton
Street and Broadway Market are supported, working alongside local
high street businesses to keep our local economy alive and
thriving.
 
We will celebrate and promote all of our street markets so
more of us shop at them, and ensure they remain London’s most
vibrant and popular destinations.
 
We will celebrate and promote all of our street markets so
more of us shop at them, and ensure they remain London’s most
vibrant and popular destinations.
 
We will invest in the welfare and wellbeing of
Hackney’s market traders with quality trading and storage
facilities, offering training and help to traders, and work to
ensure trader associations are supported and resourced.
 
We will bring forward a single council approach to enabling
community regeneration in Hackney. Across the boroughs estates,
neighbourhoods, high streets and town centres all will focus on
delivering places that can support good growth that includes the
new homes, workspaces, cultural and social spaces that a growing
borough needs. An approach that will require all our public
services to combine resources and focus on ‘the quality of
place’ delivering quality public services - from social
services to Streetscene, Planning to
Finance, Street Markets to Housing Services and schools - all have
their contribution to making a sustainable Hackney.
 
The first draft of the Market Strategy went to consultation
for a period of 6 weeks between 12th June 2023 and 23rd July 2023.
Based on the feedback from the consultation, the Markets Service
have made some amendments to the final draft of the strategy. The
main points are below.
 
· 
Revision of the dates
of the strategy - From 2023-28 to 2024-29 (pg 1)
· 
Revision to content of
the enforcement process in response to internal feedback
(pg 18).
· 
Revision to content of
the trader onboarding process and
amended recommendation to highlight the feedback form (pg 22) in response to: Majority of respondents
stated that they agree with providing a welcome pack and feedback
forms as part of trader onboarding
process (pgs 38/39 draft).
· 
Revision to content of
street trading sites and market sites (pg 30) in response to: High number of respondents
disagree with having street trading activities in Abney Park and
Clissold Park (pgs 16-20 draft) and Additional feedback received
from the public outside the consultation process where a number of
objections have been received around issuance of licenses for any
trading activities in/near the Morry
Levy Memorial site on Yoakley Road
(pgs 49-53 draft).
· 
Revision to content of
A boards (pgs 33) in response to: Over
50% of respondents are in agreement of having additional licences
for Ice Cream vans, Night trading, A Boards and no fixed abode
(pgs 42-44 draft).
· 
Mention of
“Mayor of London” included in sections associated with
the Good Growth Fund in response to internal feedback (pgs 6,15).
· 
Revision to content of
“Paper-free” changed to “Virtual licences and
digital processes” in response to internal feedback
(pgs 39).
· 
Appendix page added to
provide the following key links in response to internal feedback
(pg 40):
Business and Planning Act 2020
The Highways Act 1980
London Local Authorities Act 1990
Part III of the Food Act 1984
· 
Relocation of tables
to improve readability in response to internal feedback
(pgs 41-42).
· 
Any errors in grammar
and punctuation found were amended.
 
DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
 
Adopting no future strategy was considered but rejected due
to the risks involved in sustaining the Borough’s Markets and
street trading activities - Please refer to Section 5.6 (Risk
Assessment).