Late night levy

Local evidence shows a clear correlation between the locations of late night licensed premises and incidents involving robbery, violence and theft.

Hackney Police estimate the cost of policing the night-time economy in the borough to be around £1.4 million annually, of which £890,000 is specifically required to fund their dedicated night-time economy teams.

The levy is collected by the Council, but at least 70% of any net revenue collected must be paid to the police. It’s then used as a contribution to the policing and control of late night alcohol-related crime and disorder.

The levy uses the same fee structure as application fees under the Licensing Act 2003. You can find out the rateable value of your premises in your business rates information or from the government’s Valuation Office Agency.

The fees are set by the Home Office and are based on the non-domestic rateable value (NDRV) of the premises and are collected alongside the annual fee.

We’ll write to you each year to tell you when to pay.

The levy applies to all premises licences or club premises certificates authorising the sale of alcohol at any time between 1 minute past midnight and 6am on one or more days of the week in any year – even if the full licensable hours are not used.

Over 1,000 premises are authorised to sell alcohol and, of these, over 400 are able to supply alcohol at any time between 1 minute past midnight and 6am.

We have established a local management board that meets quarterly who is responsible for overseeing how we spend the money we raise.

The board  includes representatives from licensed premises who are required to pay the levy as well as police and Council officers.

Revenue from the Late Night Levy contributes towards the costs of managing the late night economy.

In Hackney, this is likely to include providing:

• more police patrols across the borough
• more enforcement patrols across the borough
• a radio scheme for licensed premises to better link them with police and CCTV services
• Hackney Nights safety program, which includes preventative work with venues; training, public awareness campaigns, accreditation scheme as well as provide best practice resources to all operators

The Council and Police will use the revenue to provide services and activities which:

• reduce or prevent crime and disorder
• promote public safety
• reduce or prevent public nuisance

When you get a new licence or certificate, you’ll have 2 weeks to pay the additional levy fee.

The levy doesn’t apply to temporary event notices.

Venues who successfully gain the Hackney Nights venue accreditation will benefit from a 30% reduction on their annual late night levy fees.