City's new chief 'sceptical' over levy on bars
BBCA newly-elected council leader has said he is a "sceptical" about the authority's policy of charging a fee to allow some late night venues to operate.
Since 2013, businesses in Newcastle selling alcohol between midnight and 06:00 have to pay the Late Night Levy - an annual charge of between £299 and £4,400.
The money raised has been used to pay for public safety measures in the city centre but there have been calls to abolish the charge to help struggling bars and clubs.
Liberal Democrat council leader Colin Ferguson said the hospitality sector was facing "tremendous pressure" but he would not rush into abolishing the levy while a consultation over its future is still taking place.
"I think I have been reasonably consistent in my position that I am a sceptic of the Late Night Levy, as far as the position it puts the hospitality sector in," he said.
"But we have a process of consultation ongoing at the moment, which the previous administration started.
"I kind of need to let that work through and see what the responses are."
'Good initiatives'
Following a spate of venue closures, including Prohibition and Horticulture, Newcastle City Council's former Labour administration announced it was putting the Late Night Levy under review.
In 2023-24 the levy raised £242,000, with 70% of the money going to the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The cash has been used to fund services such as extra police patrols, taxi rank marshals and an ID card scanning system to tackle underage drinking.
Ferguson said the levy had funded "really good initiatives" which he did not want to lose.
"I am thinking in particular about public safety and the safety of women and girls," he said.
"I don't want to take some sort of kneejerk position on this."
