Southwark to consult of Late Night Levy

On Thursday (14^th Feb 2019) Southwark Council confirmed their intention to launch a public consultation on the introduction of a late night levy scheme, the second London Borough to make such an announcement in a week.

The consultation will run from 25^th February to 19^th May and  if approved the Levy is planned to come into effect from 1^st September. 

The Council’s current proposal is that the Levy will affect premises retailing alcohol between midnight and 6am.

The Council proposes to exempt the following permitted categories of premises from paying the levy:

1. Premises with overnight accommodation, where alcohol can only be supplied to persons staying at the premises for consumption on the premises,
2. Theatres and cinemas,
3. Bingo Halls,
4. Community Amateur Sports Clubs,
5. Community premises,
6. New Year’s Day (i.e. 1st January) premises only (this relates to premises which are authorised to supply/sell alcohol between 00:00 hours and 06:00 hours, ONLY on New Year's Day).

The consultation also proposed a reduction of 30% will be granted to premises that are within a defined Business Improvement District (BID).

The rates of the Levy are set nationally and depends on the rateable value of the licensed premises.  In their consultation documents Southwark calculate businesses’ levy payment would range from £5.75 per week for the smallest businesses, to £85.38 for the largest businesses that primarily or exclusively serve alcohol.

We shall keep you updated.