'Local partnership working for a vibrant night time economy' - report issued

LGiU and Portman Group recently conducted a survey of over 100 council leaders, cabinet members, chief officers and service directors in English Local Authorities on their approach to managing the evening and night time economy. The survey was undertaken to determine how local government views their local night time economy, the particular local challenges they face and who takes the lead on this policy area within the council.

The findings of that survey have now been released and can be found here: https://www.lgiu.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Local-partnership-working-for-a-vibrant-night-time-economy.pdf

One of the conclusions from the report is that ‘a well-managed night time economy brings a huge range of benefits to the local community and the area’s economy, as councils across the country have already recognised in their work. And with the rapidly changing high street landscape, there is a renewed urgency in ensuring the night time economy works for everyone’.

Key findings include:

• Three quarters (74%) of councils see developing their night time economy as ‘a key priority’ or ‘important’
• Almost all councils (92%) believe that the night time economy will play an important role in preventing the decline of high street retail
• Antisocial behaviour and crime is a major issue in the night time economy, with three quarters of councils (72%) placing it in their top three challenges
• 9 in 10 councils (88%) treat their area’s night time economy as a way of supporting local businesses and job creation; and 7 in 10 (74%) see it as a way of attracting new people to the area
• Only 1 in 5 (22%) councils have a dedicated night time economy strategy; but of those that do, many are planning for the long term – half say their strategy looks 4+ years ahead
• Partnership working is essential in supporting a vibrant night time economy, say 8 in 10 councils (79%), with local businesses (95%) and the police (93%) named as key partners by most councils
• Three quarters (75%) of councils say they would welcome national level policy to facilitate the sharing of best practice and information