Local government minister Rosie Winterton wasted little time in her new role in charge of UK retail markets - visiting a market, addressing a conference and calling for stronger partnerships.
Following the first meeting of the inter-departmental working group directly responsible for retail markets on Tuesday, Winterton reported that she had identified some of the key challenges and that it was “vital to foster a partnership approach”.
The committee, which directly takes on markets after responsibility for them had been passed between government departments in the past, will report to Winterton as well as Jim Fitzpatrick, minister of state for farming and the environment at DEFRA.
The meeting had birthed two initial ideas. Members agreed to draft up a market management guide to help guide site authorities and will also study in detail ways to drive markets forward to prosperity.
In a keynote speech to the National Food Markets Conference, following a tour of Dewsbury market, Winterton said: “We understand in government that work on markets cannot be done by just the sector itself.
“I am keen to have honest, open dialogue and I’m confident that by working together in partnership we can put them back at the heart of the communities they serve.
“We know that the recession is having a visible affect on the high street. We have provided £5 million of funding to 57 local authorities to try out ways to wrestle with the problem of traders and shops going out of business.”
Winterton urged authorities to look towards the draft planning policy entitled Planning for Prosperous Economics while she said tenants associations were vital in the future of markets.
The debate follows the recent Markets 21 report published by the Retail Markets Alliance which gives more details of the value of thriving traditional markets and sets out the challenges which they face.
Independent retail markets are seen as a key customer group for wholesale market traders and form an important element of the local economy. There is a significant inter-dependence between wholesale and retail markets, with wholesale markets, although representing just one per cent of total markets, accounting for 54 per cent of the total turnover for this sector.
Traditional markets account for between 25-30 per cent of the fruit and vegetable market, which is valued at £8.27 billion overall in 2009.
Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, said: “Traditional markets offer a variety of affordable flowers and fresh produce, grown both locally and overseas, in a wonderful vibrant setting and can have a positive future. We encourage local authorities to recognise the potential of traditional markets to bring a wide range of benefits to their communities and to help them achieve their targets for social inclusion, regeneration of inner urban areas and encouraging consumers to enjoy a healthy diet.”
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