Market Call In

In January I 'called in' the Council's decision to employ consultants to review our unique and historic market.

That Call In established that officers knew of no further savings that could be made, and if an external provider was appointed the existing staff would be transferred to them with salaries protected for three years, so no savings there.

We found that there was no room for more stalls, and most were fully used so no more money could be made by having more stalls.

We established that there was historic written documentation that the market existed circa 1123AD. That is a critical date as it establishes the Market as a pre-1189 Market and that guarantees the nature and character of the Market as it cannot be changed without an Act of Parliament, with legal precedence being available to underpin that situation.

Traders at the Call In highlighted that with the new shopping centre pushing parking further away from the market their trade was suffering and the only way to overcome this was to have a Park & Ride.

In essence there was only one way to improve income for the Borough is to put up stall rents. When an external provider was appointed at the Ipswich market stall rents doubled overnight. We can increase rents ourselves without appointing a consultant, or an external provider, and use the funds to support a Park & Ride scheme that will help the market and other retailers as well without anyone else taking a cut of the income.

So what did the Cabinet do? They decided to appoint consultants anyway!

In 2005/6 this Council nearly doubled its payments to consultants to £1.2M; the following year they spent £1.9M; then it dropped to £1m, but last year they spent £2.2M; and guess what? They want to increase your Council Tax again. There is one 'consultant' this Council don't use. He's called Common Sense, does not charge anything and is commonly found on the streets of Bury St Edmunds. Unfortunately he is never seen anywhere near the Council Chamber!