Agenda item

Cllr L Withington, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, introduced this item. She explained that, as part of the Council’s Leisure and Localities function, the Markets and Seafront Inspector currently undertook a dual-purpose role supporting both market operations and seafront management. This post was currently vacant, and a review of the service had identified that dividing the responsibilities into two distinct roles would provide significant benefits, particularly in relation to recruitment and the overall effectiveness of each function. This action would result in an increase in headcount for the organisation but will not increase the overall budget for the service.

Cllr C Cushing asked why this report was coming straight to Full Council. He said that two new posts were being created with no supporting information provided and no explanation of the financial benefits. He said that markets should be the responsibility of town councils. Fakenham market was managed by the town council and it was paid for via the precept, whereas the markets in this report were paid for by NNDC council tax. He concluded by saying that a new unitary authority would be unlikely to want to pay to manage these markets going forward and that an agreement with the relevant town councils should be reached.

Cllr L Shires, Portfolio Holder for Finance, referred Cllr Cushing to section 3.2 of the report which stated there was no increase to budget and that it was a full-time role being split into two part time roles. The S151 Officer explained that there was no additional financial strain on the Council and that as the summer months approached, it was deemed to be more practical to recruit two part time roles.

Cllr J Punchard asked why Wells was not included in the area covered by the Seafront Inspector. Cllr Withington replied that Wells seafront was the responsibility of Holkham Estate.

Cllr N Dixon said that it was a very brief report but the aspect of clarity was lacking and it would have been helpful to have the information requested in the report. Cllr Shires reiterated her earlier point regarding no increase in the budget and the proposal to split the role.

Cllr L Vickers said that other towns paid for their own market provision and managed them very well and she was frustrated that customer service provision had recently been cut at the Fakenham Connect site but that no savings were being sought elsewhere. Cllr Adams replied that the reduction in service at Fakenham Connect was due to lack of demand. He went onto say that the report related to a minor operational issue, Full Council had to agree and increase in headcount and that was why it was being presented to members.

Cllr V Holliday said that it was not clear what the cost benefit of having two roles instead of one was.

Cllr T FitzPatrick commented that Overview & Scrutiny Committee should have considered the proposals and made recommendations to Full Council. He added that he did not believe a Market Officer was necessary and that these towns should be standing on their ‘own two feet’.

The Chief Executive said that Members seemed to have lost focus on the thrust of the report. North Walsham and Fakenham were both charter markets with very long histories that were embedded in the towns. They were held in the market place on public land and highways were closed on market days. The report identified that the market at Sheringham was held on a District Council car park and although it covered its costs commercially, it needed to be managed by NNDC – as it had been for many years. The current role was combined with managing the seafront and it was not an easy role to recruit to. The report proposed a pragmatic approach at no extra financial cost.

Cllr L Withington said the report was brought forward as a savings option with a view to trying to move the markets into alternative management. It wasn’t because of a lack on interest in the markets but down to a lack of capacity at this moment in time. The proposal before members protected businesses and town centres for the foreseeable future.

Cllr J Toye said that markets improved the economic vibrancy of the towns and were really important.

It was proposed by Cllr L Withington, seconded by Cllr J Toye and

RESOLVED

To adopt option 1 and agree to an increase in head count in the Leisure and Localities team to allow for the disaggregation of the Markets and Seafront Inspector roles.

1 member abstained.