Agenda item

RESOLVED the Licensing Committee noted the contents of the report and the Appendix.

RESOLVED the Late Night Levy (LNL) board and its minutes would be a matters arising item on future Licensing Committee meeting agendas, when any LNL board meetings have taken place between Licensing Committee Meetings.

RESOLVED the job description for the Late Night Levy Manager would be circulated to the Licensing Committee members and an update would be given at the next Licensing Committee meeting.

5.1 David Tuitt, Business Regulation Team Leader (Licensing and Technical Support) introduced the report. This was an update on the Late Night Levy (LNL) following the end of the first year of its operation.

5.2 The committee noted that LNL was a discretionary power, conferred on licensing

authorities by provision in Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Police Reform and Social

Responsibility Act 2011. This enables licensing authorities to charge a levy to persons who are licensed to sell alcohol late at night in the authority’s area, as a means of raising a contribution towards the costs of policing the Late-Night Economy (LNE).

5.3 Key factors considered when introducing the levy included:

·  That the legislation requires the net revenue to be split with at least 70 per

cent allocated to the Police and the remainder retained by the Licensing

Authority

·  The estimate by Hackney Police of the cost of policing the NTE around £1.4

million annually, of which £890,000 is specifically required to fund the

dedicated NTE teams Evidence of a correlation between the locations of licensed premises and the level of crime and disorder The establishment of a local management board responsible for overseeing how the revenue is spent.

·  429 premises were are authorised to sell alcohol between 00:01 and 06:00,

with an estimate maximum income of £395450

·  A voluntary levy in place the key NTE areas of Shoreditch and Dalston would

no longer continue

·  That no exemptions nor reductions would apply

5.4 Committee members noted the map at 3.6 in the report. This mapped the locations highlighting the spread of premises affected by the levy across the borough. A concentration could be seen in and around the Shoreditch Triangle. Premises were

also located along the main arterial routes such as the A10 (Stoke Newington

Road/High Street, Kingsland Road/High Street, Shoreditch High Street), Mare Street

and Upper/Lower Clapton Road.

5.5 Under 3.9 of the report, it was noted that the Police spend in year one had been

impacted by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) roll out of the Basic Command

Units (BCUs) during 2018. The BCUs saw single borough command units replaced

with operational police structures that cover between two and four local authorities.

After initial pilot schemes in Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge and

Camden and Islington, the Hackney and Tower Hamlets’ Police merged into one BCU.

5.6 The Council has power to exempt certain premises from paying the levy. In

addition, a reduction of up to 30 percent could apply to premises that are in receipt of

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and have a rateable value of £12,000 or less and

operators participating in a suitable best practice scheme.

5.7 In response to a question from Councillor Pallis, David Tuitt replied that he did not have to hand those figures for how much uptake that had been for the SBRR.

5.8 The Licensing Service cited the example of the London Borough of Islington’s

involvement in the Best Bar None scheme. Operators there were entitled to a discount if they obtained accreditation. Best Bar None was a nationwide scheme with National

Awards supported by the Home Office and the drinks industry which is aimed primarily at promoting responsible management and operation of alcohol licensed premises.

5.9 Councillor Snell commented that the report explained where LBH currently was, in terms of the LNL, but it was not clear on what the direction of travel was. He also

suggested there needed to be clarification on the newly created LBH role of the LNL

Manager. The councillor added that the BBN scheme was seen as a good example of what a local council could do in the area of the NTE, in terms of tackling rogue off

licences. Islington had shown what could be done with a clear approach and a

dedicated team.

5.10 Councillor Odze sought clarification on the following section from the LNL report:

“However, on 5 December 2017 the Mayors’ Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)

confirmed that the income would be pooled and the allocations of spend determined

by the Management Board.”

5.11 Councillor Selman, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Policy and the Voluntary Sector, responded that there was a memorandum of understanding with MOPAC, that the police will spend that money on issues specifically relating to the NTE. The committee members had expressed concerns previously that funding would have been swallowed up by the MPS because of wider policing concerns. The chair of the committee re-iterated those comments by committee members that needed to be clear direction by LBH and it was hoped that the LNL manager would be important in making this happen.

5.12 In response to a question from the chair of the committee, the Licensing Service

explained that an outline paper had gone to the LNL board about how the budget would be spent in Year 2. The surplus accrued in the first year would be rolled over.

5.13 In response to a question from Councillor Peters, Robert Gardner replied that he would look into getting further information about what voluntary contributions that had been.

RESOLVED the Licensing Committee noted the contents of the report and the Appendix.

RESOLVED the Late Night Levy (LNL) board and its minutes would be a matters arising item on future Licensing Committee meeting agendas, when any LNL board meetings have taken place between Licensing Committee Meetings.

RESOLVED the job description for the Late Night Levy Manager would be circulated to the Licensing Committee members and an update would be given at the next Licensing Committee meeting.