§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission on market rights and tolls 1891 that it is desirable to put an end to the system under which no person is allowed to hold a market within a certain distance of an already existing market.
§ Mr. HowardNo. Given the further development of regulatory and administrative controls over markets by public legislation since 1891 it would be inappropriate to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission as they stand. However, I am considering whether there should be changes to the system to which my hon. Friend refers.
§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will review the rules, laws and customs governing retailing to markets particularly in the inner cities; and when they were last reviewed.
§ Mr. HowardNo. Such a wide-ranging review would involve many aspects of retail trading outside the Secretary of State's responsibilities. Local authority powers to operate markets were last reviewed in connection with the Food Act 1984.