The majority of changes to the Licensing Act 2003 as a result of the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act 2011 were implemented in April 2012.  The introduction of Early Morning Alcohol Restriction Orders (EMROs) and a Late Night Levy, both intended to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder and help pay for costs associated with the enforcement of late opening premises, were however not expected to be implemented until October 2012.

EMRO’s which would apply to all premises licences; club premises certificates and temporary event notices would allow the Council to:-

·         restrict the sale of alcohol between 12 midnight and 6am on all or some days;

·         restrict the sale of alcohol in the whole or part of the borough where it deemed there were such issues;

·         proposals will need to be advertised and hearings held.

Late Night Levy would provide the authority with power to make a charge in respect of the extra costs the night-time economy generates for police and the local authority for premises that have an alcohol licence with a terminal hour after midnight.  If, having followed the required procedures such a levy was introduced, it would apply to all such premises both on and off-trade.  Premises licences holders would be able to vary their licence to reduce their hours and so avoid the levy – but could still make use of Temporary Event Notices for 21 days each year.

The variable fees for the levy are based on rateable value bands and were set out for Members and they were advised that any income (net of admin. costs) would be divided 70:30 with 70 per cent of the fee being paid to the Police.

Members concurred with the view that a rest period of 12-18 months should be taken before the Council considered either possibility, and taking into account the experiences of other local authorities who choose to implement the new provisions at an early stage.

Members noted that consideration would be given to the Purple Flag accreditation scheme at some future point.