In a surprise move, the Corporation of London last week submitted papers for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. This follows the unsuccessful oral application on February 6 for a judicial review of the decision by the Secretary of State to grant licences for the face-to-face sale of meat and fish in New Covent Garden Market.
The corporation’s markets committee chairman Daniel Caspi explained the move is designed to draw government attention. "There has been no positive response from the government over the London Wholesale Markets Review to date yet it is clear we have no choice but to work with the government," said Caspi. "As Nick Saphir wrote in his original report, the markets will not survive if they stand still. The Corporation of London has been compelled to take this matter to the Court of Appeal, a decision which it has not taken lightly, to clarify the future of our three markets and to protect the livelihoods of all those who work in them."
But the decision has come as a surprise to many within Spitalfields and New Covent Garden following Mr Justice Mitting’s description of elements of the corporation’s claim as "unarguable" and "hopeless" and the fact that the corporation did not make an application for leave to appeal within the seven-day time frame following the February 6 hearing and so now has to seek special leave out of time. "The markets employ 3,000 people and turn over £2 billion," said Caspi. "It is a very big issue which we needed to give due consideration." Some detractors also pointed out that Caspi’s own markets committee had appeared to ratify the decision not to appeal at its February 25 meeting before the decision was overturned by a policy and resources committee. "Each committee works within the structure of the Corporation of London and may make a recommendation to the policy and resources committee before a decision can be made," said Caspi.
Some observers suggest that the corporation is under pressure from Smithfield tenants and so is working on its appeal to be seen to be doing more to help them.
"We are under no pressure from any particular market," countered Caspi. "Our solution is collective for all markets and it is for the long term idea of a composite market for the greater good of all London markets."
The tenants’ association at Spitalfields has nevertheless welcomed the move. "As tenants we are pleased to see the corporation is taking steps to look after the interests of its tenants, although this does affect Smithfields and Billingsgate tenants more than Spitalfields’," said the association’s Jim Heppel.
What the tenants at the corporation’s horticultural wholesale market are now calling for is parity. "We would like to have the right to sell other products," said Heppel "Many of our customers run mini-supermarkets and we could become a one-stop-shop for them."
Meanwhile, at New Covent Garden the market authority is confident that the government decision to grant licences for face-to-face selling of meat and fish will be upheld. "We won the first hearing and we won the appeal," said a spokeswoman for Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA). "There is no new evidence and we have no reason to believe we will not win again."
The market has already gone ahead with granting licences and is legally entitled to do so. The market has three tenants that have been trading meat and fish for a couple of years but now will be allowed to sell face-to-face once they have signed the variation to their lease documents. One firm has already signed the necessary documentation and CGMA general manager Mike Liggins told freshinfo the authority is completing the process with the other two tenants.
It is likely to be late summer or early autumn before the Corporation finds out whether it has been granted leave to appeal. The appeals process could take a further year.
