Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Allen, Councillor Miners and Councillor Nawaz.

There were no declarations of interest.

         The Committee received a report which sought its views as to whether a formal consultation should take place with a view to implementing a Late Night Levy or Early Morning Restriction Order.

         The Strategic Regulatory Services Manager advised that the decision to introduce a late night levy was an option available to all licensing authorities in the whole of their respective areas.  The levy would be payable by the holders of any premises licence or club premises certificate, in relation to premises in the authority’s area, which authorised the sale or supply of alcohol on any days during a period beginning at or after midnight and ending at or before 6.00am, regardless of the size and nature of the premises.

The licensing authority had discussed the need for a Levy with the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office and the Police Superintendent of the Peterborough district area.  The idea of a Levy at the current time was not considered wholly appropriate by the aforementioned.  Any decision to implement a Levy was required to be heavily evidenced based, both from a licensing authority point of view as well as the police.  It was therefore thought that such a decision could potentially harm the city’s prospects for its vision of a café culture.

         There were a number of possible advantages and disadvantages of implementing a levy and these were outlined to the Committee. It was further advised that at the time of the report, there had only been one local authority which had implemented a levy, this being Newcastle.

In relation to Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs), these were designed to address recurring problems such as high levels of alcohol-related crime and disorder in specific areas at specific times; serious public nuisance; and other instances of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour which was not directly attributable to specific premises. An EMRO could apply to the whole or a part of the licensing authority’s area.

An EMRO was considered more of a last resort than other measures available under the Licensing Act 2003. The Section 182 Guidance suggested that before introducing an EMRO local authorities have regard to other measures such as the introduction of Cumulative Impact Zone, reviewing licences of specific problem premises, encouraging the creation of business led best practice schemes etc.

         Members were invited to debate the report and the following key points were highlighted:

·         Local businesses should not be burdened with further costs at the current time;

·         The proposals should be revisited in 18 months or so;

·         The introduction of a Levy may have a negative impact upon the night time economy; and

·         There had been no other authorities bar Newcastle which had implemented a Levy.

                   RESOLVED:

          The Committee noted the contents of the report and agreed that a formal consultation, with a view to implementing a Late Night Levy or Early Morning Restriction Order, should not be undertaken.

         Reasons for the decision:

The Committee did not feel that, at the current time, there were sufficient advantages to further exploring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.