Late night levies could be "costly and bureaucratic", claims LGA

The Local Government Association has warned that government proposals for a ‘late night levy' could prove “costly and bureaucratic”.

The levy, which will fund policing of the night-time economy, is currently the subject of a Home Office consultation.

The LGA also argued that:

• The proposed 30-70 split between councils and the police of the funds raised “is unfair and does not represent the true balance of resources invested by the two organisations”; and
• There should be more flexibility for councils built into proposed ‘early morning restriction orders'. These orders allow local authorities to restrict the sale of alcohol in part or all of their areas between midnight and 6am.

Cllr Nilgun Canver, LGA Licensing Champion, said: "Councils need to have the power to effectively shape their late-night economy and respond to communities' concerns."

The LGA has called on councils to provide comments ahead of the submission of its response. To contribute, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 1 April. The consultation ends on 10 April.

Research by law firm Poppleston Allen published last month showed a limited appetite among licensing authorities for late night levies and EMROs.

Just 10% said they were likely to implement the levy, while 38% said they were unlikely to bring one in. The remaining respondents had not yet considered implementation.

Reasons given for not implementing levies included that they would not be fair and proportionate if covering the whole area, or they would not be financially viable given the 70:30 revenue split in favour of the police.

The survey also gauged licensing authorities’ intentions in relation to EMROs. This found that fewer than 5% were likely to implement these orders. Almost half (44%) said they were unlikely to, while almost 52% had not yet considered the issue.