By Vivienne Russell | 10 April 2012
Town halls are calling for pubs and clubs with late-night licences to contribute fully to clean-up costs.
The Local Government Association today urged ministers to ensure the planned Late Night Levy sufficiently compensates councils for the costs of keeping nightlife hotspots clean and safe.
The levy is one of the measures included in the Home Office’s Alcohol Strategy. It is currently proposed that 70% of the proceeds of the levy go to the police.
But councils say this ignores the role they play in patrolling and cleaning up streets and would leave them unable to invest in high street improvements. They want councils and police forces to decide locally how to spend and share the money raised through the levy.
They also want local flexibility on the types of establishment that will have to pay the levy. It is currently proposed to exempt eight different categories of pubs, restaurants and bed and breakfast accommodation, but the LGA says these exemptions might be appropriate in some parts of the country, but not in others.
Mehboob Khan, chair of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board, said the Late Night Levy was a ‘definite step in the right direction’ but didn’t recognise the contributions made by local authorities. That still left taxpayers picking up the bill for alcohol-fuelled nights out
He added: ‘The best way to tackle rowdy alcohol-fuelled trouble is to minimise the chances of it happening in the first place. Councils have led the way at this, whether it be employing taxi marshals to keep things in check as revellers make their way home in the early house, or redesigning high streets to remove pressure points which get too crowded at closing time at the local nightclub.
‘This sort of innovation could be stifled if the government persists with placing too many restrictions on how money should be spent.’
