Fewer councils considering the late-night levy but more consider early-morning restriction orders

These are the key findings of a survey by law firm Poppleston Allen of licensing officers at 345 local authorities across the UK.

The research found the number of local authorities that were likely to implement the levy fell by more than a third in comparison to the last survey conducted in 2011.

Of those surveyed, 6.1% of local authorities said that they were likely to implement the levy — a substantial decrease from the 9.9% in the 2011 survey.

Meanwhile, 50.7% said they were unlikely to implement the levy, up from 37.8% in 2011 — an increase of around one third.

A further 42.6% of local authorities said that they had not yet considered it.

Local authorities indicated that they had concerns about whether the LNL was fair and proportionate and whether it was a viable option when balanced with the administrative burden of implementation.

However, the proportion of local authorities considering implementing EMROs has almost doubled since the 2011 survey to 8.7% (an increase from 4.6%).

These statistics give an indication of how local authorities’ views on EMROs have changed since the 2011 survey.

Almost half (47.2%) said they were unlikely to implement EMROS — a rise of three percentage points in comparison to 2011, while 43.5% had not considered it.

In Greater London, the number of local authorities considering both LNLs and EMROs is higher than average across the UK. Just over one in seven local authorities in Greater London is likely to consider the LNL, while a similar proportion were considering EMROs.  

The 2011 survey was conducted from 16 August to 4 November and the 2012 study was carried out between 17 April and 13 July.