Strategy for Leeds Kirkgate Market

Leeds City Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Leeds City Council,
Given the amount of money already spent and the ongoing work to Leeds Kirkgate Market and surrounding area, I wondered if you would share your vision of the future by providing me with:-

1. The short term strategy (1year)
2. The medium term strategy (5year)
3. The long term strategy (10year)
for. Leeds Kirkgate Market applicable to the inside and outside market.

Yours faithfully,

Elizabeth A Laughton (Mrs)

DPFOI, Leeds City Council

Dear Elizabeth

 
Freedom of information request Ref 80667 : Strategy for Leeds
Kirkgate Market

 

Thank you for your request for the above information which we
received on 02 November 2018. We will respond to your request in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

 

Your request has been assigned to one of our officers who will
arrange a response within the appropriate statutory time limit.

 

Please remember to quote reference number FOI 80667 in any future
communications.

 

Kind Regards

 

Malika Doust

Information Governance Support Officer

Information Governance and Managements Team (City and Communities)

Digital Information Service

 

 

 

 

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IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

Dear Mrs. Laughton,

 

I write in response to your below Freedom of Information request, received
in this office on 2nd November 2018.

 

Your request asked:

 

Given the amount of money already spent and the ongoing work to Leeds
Kirkgate Market and surrounding area, I wondered if you would share your
vision of the future by providing me with:-

 

1. The short term strategy (1year)

2. The medium term strategy (5year)

3. The long term strategy (10year)

    for. Leeds Kirkgate Market applicable to the inside and outside
market.

 

I can advise that the Market team is developing a 5 year strategy for the
period 2019  - 2024.  A key element of the strategy is undertaking
stakeholder surveys to help determine some of the priority actions within
the strategy, we have recently completed a survey with the Leeds
university business school, the key findings of which we shared with all
tenants in the last Market messenger and we are starting another survey
following trader feedback, led by Leeds Beckett University, focussing on
the Market Kitchen and specifically how we can encourage customers to this
area to visit other areas of the market before or after they have dined in
the Market Kitchen.

 

A wider market survey is starting this month, firstly with some public
focus groups so that we get a wide view of customers and non-customer's
opinions of the market and specifically to identify priority areas for
action, which will then help guide the strategy.

 

Once the priority actions arising from the surveys have been collated the
strategy will be completed. Tenants can voice any points they feel should
be included in the strategy via the trader reps, as the draft version will
be presented to the Market Management Board for views, before going for
final approval at the Council's executive board. Once approved the
strategy will be available for all tenants to see.

 

I trust my reply serves to assist in your enquiry.  If you have any
queries about this letter, please feel free to contact me.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to:

 

Freepost RLZR-ELTX-RUEH

Leeds City Council

PO Box 657

LS1 9BS 

 

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under Section 50
of the Freedom of Information Act for a decision.  Generally the ICO
cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure
provided by Leeds City Council. 

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Richard Brook,

Senior Information Governance Officer,

Information Management and Governance,

Digital and Information Service,

Leeds City Council.

 

Tel: 0113 37 87118

Email: [email address]

 

 

 

 

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Dear Leeds City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Leeds City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Strategy for Leeds Kirkgate Market'.

I have received information for a proposed strategy and how it is to be formulated. This has nothing to do with the request.

A great deal of money has and is being spent and a strategy(s) should/must have been in place to provide a vision post spend and work completed; it is this/these that I have requested. Under what plan has LCC been working that determed the time scales, the desired changes, costs, outcomes and impacts etc.

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

E A Laughton

IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

Dear Ms. Laughton,

I write in response to your below correspondence, in which you request a
review of your Freedom of Information request of 2^nd November 2018
concerning Leeds Kirkgate Market.

 

Your original request asked:

 

Given the amount of money already spent and the ongoing work to Leeds
Kirkgate Market and surrounding area, I wondered if you would share your
vision of the future by providing me with:-

 

1. The short term strategy (1year)

2. The medium term strategy (5year)

3. The long term strategy (10year)

    for. Leeds Kirkgate Market applicable to the inside and outside
market.

 

Mr. Brook, Senior Information Governance Officer, responded to you on 9^th
November 2018, advising that the Market Service is developing a 5 year
strategy for the period 2019  - 2024. In stating this, Mr. Brook advised
that a key element of this strategy is undertaking stakeholder surveys to
help determine some of the priority actions within it. This included Mr.
Brook detailing that the service had recently completed a survey with the
Leeds University Business School, the key findings of which we shared with
all tenants, and that another survey was proposed following trader
feedback, led by Leeds Beckett University (focussing on the Market Kitchen
and specifically how the service can encourage customers to this area to
visit other areas of the market before or after they have dined in the
Market Kitchen).

 

Mr. Brook also advised that a wider market survey was starting this month
with public focus groups, which will help guide the strategy, and that the
strategy will be shared with tenants on completion.

 

You have appealed this response stating:

 

I have received information for a proposed strategy and how it is to be
formulated. This has nothing to do with the request.

 

A great deal of money has and is being spent and a strategy(s) should/must
have been in place to provide a vision post spend and work completed; it
is this/these that I have requested. Under what plan has LCC been working 
that determed the time scales,  the  desired changes, costs, outcomes and
impacts etc.

 

In considering your appeal, however, I do not agree that the Council’s
original response had ‘nothing to do with your request’. To advise,
Freedom of Information requests concern recorded information held by the
authority. In this instance, the Council’s response was clear in that a
strategy is being developed and that it is a five year strategy from 2019
– 2024. There is, therefore, no specific documents concerning a ‘short
term strategy’ or a ‘long term strategy’. In addition (and as is detailed
in the response) the five year strategy is still being developed and there
is, therefore, no document to provide as of the present time.

 

Separately to the above, however, I can advise that there was a previous
strategy dating to 2011. This stated:

 

The Vision is to be the best market in the UK:

 

ü  highly successful, profitable and sustainable;

ü  a centre of excellence for independent retailers and entrepreneurs;

ü  a top destination for residents and tourists.

This Strategy had three themes:

 

1.    To continue to promote the market to existing and potential
customers and prospective tenants through a variety of measures;

2.    To continue to improve the environment of the market to benefit
tenants and customers and to ensure the indoor and outdoor markets are the
optimum size with 100% stall lettings; and

3.    To adopt the best ownership and management model for Kirkgate
Markets to secure significant investment in both the environment of the
market and its promotion, and to ensure faster decision-making and greater
flexibility.

 

If you would like to discuss this matter further, then the Markets Service
have advised that they would be happy to meet with you to do so.

 

This concludes my response to your appeal. If you remain dissatisfied, you
also have a right under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act to
ask the Information Commissioner to take a decision as to whether we have
met with our obligations under the Act. Should you wish to contact the
Commissioner’s Office then you can write to the following address:

 

        Office of the Information Commissioner,

        Wycliffe House,

        Water Lane,

        Wilmslow, Cheshire,

        SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Mandy Dobson,

Principal Information Governance Officer,

Information Management and Governance,

Digital and Information Service,

Leeds City Council.

 

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