An extra charge on late-night bars and clubs in Newcastle looks set to be dropped. Newcastle City Council’s Late Night Levy has been in force since 2013 and charges an annual fee of between £299 and £4,400 on businesses with a licence to sell alcohol between midnight and 6am.
Levy Under Review Amid Hospitality Struggles
The money has been used to pay for public safety measures like street marshals and CCTV cameras, but has been under review because of the severe financial pressure on the hospitality trade. Industry leaders have called for the levy to be abolished in order to help venues grappling with rising business rates, National Insurance contributions, energy bills, and other costs.
Council chiefs have indicated that they want the charge scrapped, as a verdict edges closer. Members of the council’s licensing committee will be asked to decide next Monday whether to end the levy, before the final decision is made at a meeting of the full council in October.
Council Leader Calls for Abolition
Ahead of Monday’s committee, Liberal Democrat council leader Colin Ferguson has made clear that he wants the charge to be revoked. The levy has generated £3.46 million since its introduction, helping to pay for city centre support services like the Safe Haven and Shout Up sexual harassment training.
But a council report warns that the wider circumstances are now “significantly different”, with a recent consultation finding that 93% of Newcastle’s licensed trade support its abolition. It also highlighted concerns over the disproportionate impact on premises trading only briefly after midnight or located outside Newcastle’s major hotspots.
Alternative Funding Plan Proposed
Outside London, Liverpool and Newcastle are the only councils still to charge such a levy on late-night venues. Coun Ferguson said: “I have said publicly that I was sceptical of the levy given the additional and disproportionate pressure that it put on some of our city’s hospitality venues. It was only right that we allowed the consultation to end but now I think it is clear the correct decision would be for Newcastle’s Late-Night Levy to be revoked.”
“Ultimately, this cabinet does not think it is fair that Newcastle is one of just two cities outside of London that expects hospitality venues to contribute towards policing and public safety initiatives. We want to see the positive work in the city centre continuing, and we believe working with the Police and Crime Commissioner, Chief Constable and NE1 to ensure shared management and funding will support the safety of everyone, particularly women and girls.”
“However, we need to ensure we do this without putting undue pressure on venues in our city and make sure we are doing everything we can to protect the incredible hospitality offer Newcastle is famed for. We also recognise simply ending the levy doesn’t solve pressures facing the sector, so we will also continue to lobby Government for new measures to ensure our city can thrive.”
The council said that if the levy was revoked, an alternative system would be put in place to manage a fund specifically for safety measures in the night-time economy – with contributions from the local authority itself and the Newcastle Business Improvement District (BID) company NE1.
