ALMR to issue "robust responses" to local council consultations on late-night levy and EMROs
The organisation met with its Newcastle members last week to discuss proposals for a levy which would see late-night venues in the city paying an annual fee towards tackling alcohol-related problems.
Following the meeting, the ALMR’s strategic affairs director Kate Nicholls said the trade body is preparing a “robust response” to Newcastle City Council’s consultation on the levy, which ends on 30 April.
“What the council has done is understate the social, cultural and economic importance of the late-night economy to Newcastle, underestimate the costs to businesses which own more than one premises and are located in the Business Improvement District (BID), and failed to understand that knock-on effect on the wider economy, investment and offer in Newcastle.
“Multiple operators are facing bills of tens of thousands of pounds from having to pay the levy and it will only damage town-centre investment in the long-term.
“There is no doubt that Newcastle will be the big loser — that is the message we will be putting across in our consultation response.”
The ALMR also met operators in Hartlepool during a meeting on Friday 22 February and concluded that an EMRO from 2am would have a negative impact on the town’s night-time economy.
“There are some naïve ideas that imposing an EMRO would see people drinking earlier in the evenings in pubs and clubs,” said Nicholls.
“Operators are very concerned about what that would mean for the town centre as a whole, especially as more people are drinking at home because of the escalating alcohol duty which continues to inflate the price of drinks in the on-trade.”
She added: “We will be issuing robust responses to any local authorities that are consulting on a levy or EMRO and also highlighting the benefits that partnership with the licensed trade can bring.”
The ALMR has already set up a fighting fund to cover the costs of any judicial reviews against councils looking to implement a levy or EMRO.
