Partner Article

How would the Late Night Levy affect Newcastle?

Later this year Newcastle City Council is likely to be amongst the first in the country to introduce a Late Night Licensing Levy. As the name suggests, this is a new business tax (do we need more?) on licensed premises wishing to remain open after midnight and will affect bars, clubs and nightclubs, in what is referred to as the ‘wider night time economy’. The law does however allow exemptions for the likes of bingo halls, sports clubs, theatres and ‘premises with overnight accommodation’, e.g. city hotels.

The original legislation was designed to raise additional contribution towards the on-going policing and servicing costs generally associated with the management of late night city drinkers (the police are entitled to 70% of the proceeds).

It is however a concern that if the council does not exercise its power to exempt hotel accommodation and proceeds with a blunt approach to implementation, this could ultimately have a negative impact on Newcastle’s wider tourist economy. It could end up adding to the problems associated with late night city policing, rather than assisting, as well affecting Newcastle’s long term reputation as a tourist destination.

The reality is that, if city hotels are forced to close their bars to everybody at midnight to avoid this new tax, these are some of things that could happen:-

• High spending tourists i.e. not necessarily clubbers, who happen to want a drink at the hotel bar after midnight won’t be able to unless it’s from their mini bar.
• Attendees at social events including weddings and Christmas parties may risk being compelled to leave the relative safety of a hotel before the midnight deadline, and end up spilling onto already crowded city streets.
• Late night revellers won’t necessarily be in hurry to go back to their hotel for a last drink, again compounding the management problem on the streets.
• The implications of ‘early closing’ for Newcastle’s reputation as a cosmopolitan, cultural and conferencing city would have a considerable economic impact.

Newcastle City Council have yet to reassure regional hoteliers or respond to their own consultations about the planned exceptions, suggesting the decision to bluntly implement the legislation without giving full enough consideration to the wider implications on Newcastle’s thriving night time economy, has already been made.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rockliffe Hall .