DD2526 Tomorrow’s Market

1.1 The Street and Covered Markets programme, including the London Markets Board, is cited internationally as best practice amongst the Markets sector and professional networks for recognising the contribution of markets to wider policy agendas and enabling the Mayor to respond strategically to challenges and opportunities the sector faces. Significant progress has been made against the agreed work programme since 2017 – including the hosting of an international conference, delivery of pilot research and action, and the mainstreaming of markets proposals within broader capital funding programmes.

1.2 The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown has caused unprecedented disruption to London’s high street and street markets and is threatening the emerging process revaluation and renewal. London markets are operating with reduced pitches, partly due to social distancing requirements, but also due a reduced take-up from traders. The financial deficit that most local authority markets teams already operate under is likely to worsen as a result of financial and resource constraints caused by the pandemic. Markets across the UK remain committed to getting back on their feet but face a long journey to fully recover which a third lockdown has further disrupted.

1.3 Whilst COVID has caused major disruption, the pandemic has underlined the important role that London’s markets play in serving local communities which include the supply of fresh and affordable food (including specialised and ethnic produce) particularly to vulnerable people through the facilitation of food vouchers and a safe shopping experience that can be accessed by foot. It has also provided opportunities for many traders to diversify their trade; some traders have been able to provide box delivery and/or click and collect services. Local authorities like Camden, Southwark and Hackney have reported an increase in new trader applications despite a high volume of existing traders deciding not to trade.

1.4 The LEAP Programme Board has endorsed a detailed business case for the expenditure of £150,000 from the Good Growth Revenue budget to support the Tomorrow’s Market programme and ongoing market renewal in the context of the London Recovery Board’s Highs Streets for All mission.

Learning from the Tomorrow’s Market pilot

1.5 Tomorrow’s Market (TM) was launched in January 2019 with a total budget of £75,000 funded by the LEAP and London Growth Hub (approved via DD2322). Between February 2019 and March 2020, the TM pilot programme delivered two rounds of 6-month intensive business support to 30 new traders.

1.6 The pilot programme delivered two rounds of 6-month intensive business support to 30 new traders in total. Key programme successes include:

• Recruitment of Market traders: The programme set out to support more Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people into Market trading and utilised several networks that target young people and those from a BAME background. As a result 78% of the traders were from a BAME background. Through a two-stage recruitment process the programme secured diverse, high quality and motivated traders.

• Business support: Each trader received tailored and intensive support – combined with nearly 800 hours of business support from leading experts in relevant sectors. Traders also attended seminars, NVQ training and networking events.

• Sustainability of traders: Across both cohorts, 28 traders have continued to trade either within markets, online or within high street settings. Examples of individual traders include: https://www.kimnchi.com/, https://www.lambsworld.com/, https://www.facebook.com/unholybagels-719451355058189/

1.7 Using the insights from the evaluation report of the pilot, engagement with the London Markets Board, feedback from the boroughs, and the emerging thinking around recovery, the Tomorrow’s Market programme will evolve to deliver best practice to support local authorities set up their own localised Tomorrow’s market programmes. Through the High Streets for All Challenge fund, organisations will be encouraged to apply for funding to deliver markets recovery plans or markets related interventions that build on recovery planning work already underway. Through the Tomorrow’s Market ‘how to’ guide, support will be provided to Local Authorities and will help to address the high volume of requests for markets support the GLA has received since the start of the pandemic. Further detail is set out in section 2 below.

High Streets for All

1.8 The London Recovery Board was established in March 2020 to oversee the capital’s economic and social response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chaired by the Mayor of London and Cllr Georgia Gould, Chair of the London Councils, the Recovery Board is developing a strategy and plan of action to reshape London to be fairer, more equal, greener and more resilient than it was before the crisis.

1.9 The context for the work is challenging as the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on different communities has exposed long standing inequalities. Local economies and high streets have been particularly affected. To meet the outcomes agreed by the Recovery Board, the Taskforce has developed a set of missions to guide the programme that aim to address the core challenges facing London. High Streets for All is one of nine such recovery missions for London.

1.10 The High Streets for All (HSfA) mission will aim to deliver enhanced public spaces and exciting new uses for underused high street buildings in every Borough by 2025, working with London's diverse communities.

1.11 The High Streets for All Challenge fund is an invitation to local partnerships to respond to the high street and town centre challenges and develop innovative approaches for local streets and vacant and under used buildings and spaces. Assets that can create public value will be at the centre of locally derived plans, anchoring partnership formation and strategy development. Local authorities will apply to the challenge fund to secure grant funding to deliver on the High Streets Mission stated above.

1.12 The fund will develop the capacity of local authorities and town centre partnerships to work with community groups and the private sector to plan for, safeguard and directly deliver a diverse, resilient and thriving mix of high street and town centre activity within easy reach of all Londoners and at all times of day. It will also foster a culture of ideas, collaboration and invention to bring vacant and underused buildings into productive use; promoting local employment and near home working, protecting existing community and cultural spaces and introducing new types of businesses and civic organisations.

1.13 The challenge fund will support a variety of localised high street actions in the line with the mission objectives. Supporting streets markets is one of many possible actions local authorities could take to support town centre and high street recovery efforts. This decision form seeks approval for £100,000 from the Tomorrow’s Market programme to be contributed to the HSfA challenge fund and provided as grant funding (and possibly supplemented with the main programme fund) to local authorities to develop street market projects that also align with the Tomorrow’s Market objectives. The £100,000 is specifically ringfenced for Markets projects. Sector focused and borough engagement will target local authorities who are grappling with street market challenges and encourage them to apply.

1.14 The Regeneration Team will manage the fund and application process, as well as administer the grant funding and enter into grant agreements with local authorities. Delivery will be a collective effort across GLA with Regeneration and Culture & Creative Industries teams particularly involved in programme definition and delivery. Clarity on geography, purpose, and audience of specific recovery proposals will ensure GLA investments are coordinated, target distinct issues, reflect Mayoral priorities, deliver transferable learning and add value across recovery efforts.

1.15 The social and economic value of street markets and the contribution they make to local places and high streets is key to achieving the ambitions set out as part of the London Recovery Board’s High Street mission. Contributing funding from the Tomorrow’s Market budget to the High Streets Challenge fund will enable projects to come forward with a street markets focus.

2.1 The Tomorrow’s Market proposal aims to highlight the social and economic value of street markets within Boroughs’ high street recovery planning and to enable delivery through the High Streets for All Challenge fund. Both of the Tomorrow’s Markets actions, which include the £50,000 support offer and best practice ‘how to’ guide and the £100,000 contribution to the challenge fund, will:

• support the delivery of resilient and innovative street markets that provide opportunities for local employment, business incubation and a wide range of social and community benefits;

• supplement capacity within local authorities in developing recovery plans and actions that respond to local challenges that are faced by markets and formed through the use of local partnerships and new ideas and innovations whilst taking on the learnings from COVID;

• support local authorities and market operators to secure diverse traders that reflect local demographics and trades (commodities) that respond to local and community needs;

• collaborate with the London Markets Board and sector more generally to identify emerging trends, good practice of similar initiatives so that the programme can flex and adapt to the changing nature of street markets; and

• connect with and amplify the impact of Good Growth Fund (GGF) projects / accelerator projects by sharing new ideas and strategies developed by the Tomorrow’s Market initiative and markets recovery plans so that they can be taken on and implemented by GGF delivery partners.

2.2 Specific to the ‘how to’ guide, the following outputs will be achieved:

• working with the appointed consultant, production of a clear ‘how to’ guide to enable local authorities (LA’s) to devise a localised version of the Tomorrow’s Market initiative to recruit and support new traders into markets;

• provision of guidance and support on the outreach to new entrepreneurs and businesses through local and London wide networks;

• provision of guidance and tips to support local authorities to link their Tomorrow’s Market initiative into local town centre and high street strategies and employment opportunities; and

• communication with the sector and delivery of seminar and 1-1 sessions to support LAs in the delivery of the programme.

2.3 The GLA will undertake a procurement exercise with the support of the Transport for London procurement team to appoint consultants to deliver a Tomorrow’s Market ‘how to’ guide and provide support to local authorities. The value of this contract will be up to £50,000 to accommodate the high volume of requests for markets support the GLA has received from Local Authorities since the start of the pandemic. The delivery partner will be supervised by the GLA Regeneration team and an expert client steering group will be convened to guide the project with members drawn from the London Markets Board, the wider sector, local authorities and GLA teams to help attract market specific proposals. This procurement will be undertaken in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.

2.4 A total of £100,000 of funding will be provided to support a select number of markets to deliver market recovery plans. This funding will be allocated through the High Streets Challeng Fund. In some cases, local authorities will apply to the fund for specific high streets which includes a street markets element so there may be the option to utilise the Tomorrow’s Market budget of £100,000 to top up any allocations made through the main challenge fund, adding value and supplementing awards to ensure the street markets element is fully realised.

2.5 Each recovery plan will respond to the overarching aims stated above with a focus on diversifying markets through the recruitment and supporting new businesses/traders, specifically the fund and Tomorrow’s Market will enable:

• Working with local authorities to build on high street/ markets recovery plans underway or supporting them to produce plans that respond to the overarching objectives stated above and explore ways in which the market can adapt and diversity to meet local need and become more resilient.

• Once the focus of each project is confirmed, the GLA will enter into a funding agreement to formalise outputs and outcomes. We would expect the Local Authority to monitor and report on the following output measures:

 number of traders/businesses provided with business support;

 number of new businesses created;

 uplift in high street footfall on Market days; and

 number of community events and initiatives set up to support market recovery.

3.1. Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the “Equality Act”), as a public authority, the Mayor and the GLA must have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under the Equality Act comprise age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (the duty in respect of this last characteristic is to eliminate unlawful discrimination only).

3.2. Underpinning the Tomorrow’s Market programme is an aim to lower barriers to entry for market trading as stated in the report ‘Understanding London’s Markets’. Tomorrow’s Market will continue to be developed and delivered in compliance with relevant Codes of Practice and in line with the requirements of the Public-Sector Equality Duty as set out in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

3.3. Through the Tomorrow’s Market initiative, there will be emphasis on equality issues which are specific to Small and Medium Enterprises, namely the underrepresentation of women, and people of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) origin within the markets sector. To achieve this objective, we will work with local authorities to set specific targets and outputs within their recovery planning work to ensure they are engaging with diverse traders that reflect the local area. In line with the pilot which engaged with and targeted a number of networks to bring unrepresentative traders to the programme, similar strategies will be adopted by local authorities to ensure traders from protected characteristic groups and those who are faced with barriers to trading take part in the programme.

3.4. Whilst the programme will target women and BAME individuals the programme is open to all candidates and other protected characteristic groups. This decision is not expected to have any negative impact on persons with a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.

4.1. Project risk table:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

Street and Covered Markets

4.2. In 2017, the Mayor of London announced a package of measures highlighting support for markets and acknowledging the crucial role they play in London’s economic, cultural and social life, as well as London’s international leadership in this area. This project supports the Mayor’s priorities to support London’s markets as follows:

London Recovery

4.3. The Mayor’s Business Hub, which aims to simplify London’s business support landscape through a single online portal, as well as deliver face-to-facer business support programmes to supplement the existing offer provided by the public and private sector. Tomorrow’s market will be promoted through the Business Hub and likewise the initiatives and activities on offer through the Business Hub will be signposted to local authorities.

4.4. The Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy, which aims to ensure London remains the best place to start up and grow a business in making sure opportunities are provided for all. The economic value street markets bring to local places is key and in particular the role of markets in providing low cost and low risk ways to start up a business.

4.5. The Mayor’s Food Strategy sets out the Mayor’s vision for good food across the capital. Through Tomorrow’s Market, the GLA’s food team will sit on the expert client group to advise and guide the development of the project and ensure the outcomes align with the emerging priorities of the London Food Strategy.

4.6. Street markets are a key part of London’s cultural fabric. There is strong alignment with the Mayor’s priorities for Culture and Arts and specifically, through the work on the night time economy and night markets.

4.7. The Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy- Tomorrow’s Market seamlessly aligns with the objectives of the EDI and GLA Regeneration will continue dialogue with the EDI team and ensure they feed into the development of the project.

4.8. Healthy Streets - Street markets are cited in the Healthy Streets strategy as a positive action to encourage further use and interaction of public spaces around the city.

Impact assessments and consultations

4.9. The Street and Covered Markets programme is underpinned by the report Understanding London’s Markets which pulls together substantial insight and input from across the markets sector including local authorities, community organisations, market traders and private operators. It was also developed in following consultation and drew on input from teams across the GLA including Culture, Community and Social Policy, Economic and Business Policy, Education, Food and Planning to optimise alignment with Mayoral priorities across policy areas, and to add to the understanding of specific sectors.

4.10. Engagement: It is crucial that GLA officers maintain good engagement and relationships with the wide range of project stakeholders including the London Markets Board to ensure the sector continue to support Tomorrow’s Market. Through London Markets Board meetings and sector specific network meetings, we will ensure regular updates are provided and consultation is carried out.

4.11. Underachievement against targets and outcomes: GLA Officers will monitor the delivery of Tomorrow’s Market programme to ensure that the agreed outputs and outcomes are monitored and the overarching ambitions and aims of the programme are reflected in projects that are submitted through the High Street Innovation Challenge by engaging with local authorities and markets teams ahead of the Open Call.

Conflicts of interest

4.12. There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

5.1. Executive director approval is being sought for the expenditure in the sum of £150,000 towards the Tomorrow’s Market programme.

5.2. The total costs of £150,000 have been endorsed by the LEAP Programme Board and will be funded from the ‘Good Growth Fund’ revenue budget that was earmarked for the programme via MD2163. The programme comprises of £50,000 to be spent on external consultancy services and £100,000 on the open call (subject to GLA flexibilities, expenditure may increase not exceeding total programme budget.). The indicative profile for expenditure is £150,000 in financial year 2021-22.

6.1. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:

• the decisions requested of the director concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London.

• In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:

- pay due regard to the principle that there should equality of opportunity for all people;

- consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute toward the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

- consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2. In taking the decisions requested, the director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion) and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

6.3. Paragraph 1.14 above indicates that the contribution of funding to local authorities to develop street market plans will amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services. Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is put in place between and executed by the GLA and recipient before any commitment to fund is made.

6.4. Any services required by the GLA described in this report must be procured with the assistance of the Transport for London procurement team in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the services.