Changes to licensing policy aimed at protecting the vulnerable are due to go before councillors this week.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s Licensing Committee is being asked to approve several changes when the new “statement of licensing policy” goes before members tomorrow (Thursday 6 November).
Changes include a “good operator policy”, a grassroots music venue category and bringing in a “city safety area” (CSA).
The proposed new CSA would replace the cumulative impact zone (CIZ) where there are restrictions on new alcohol-led venues and late-night businesses.
The safety-first approach also includes door policies that should mean vulnerable people are not just ejected on to the street.
And it would mean vulnerability training to support people from the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning community) and measures aimed at preventing violence against women and girls.
Slightly more than half of the 70 people who responded to a consultation backed replacing the CIZ with the CSA, with less than a quarter opposing the move.
A report to the Licensing Committee said: “After careful consideration, the licensing authority has decided to redesignate the area formerly covered by the CIZ as a CSA in order to make safety the overriding focus and priority in and around licensed venues.
“In doing so the licensing authority’s objective is to maximise protection for everyone participating in the night-time economy, particularly people visiting, working and living in the city centre.
“It is recognised that cumulative impact continues to be a feature of the CSA but by careful scrutiny of licence applications and mandating robust safety policies the licensing authority’s aim is to improve safety by reducing levels of crime, disorder and public nuisance (and their associated harms) and so promote the licensing objectives within the CSA.”
Three-quarters of survey respondents backed the safeguarding aim including guarding against “modern slavery” and observing Martyn’s law – requiring venues that hold more than 200 people to be better prepared to deal with terrorism.
More than 80 per cent of respondents supported the safety-first door policy, with just one opposing.
Two-thirds of respondents backed a grassroots music venue category, with a similar number backing the introduction of a “good operator” policy.
The “good operator” policy would apply to licence holders who apply for a variation and have not been subject to formal interventions in the previous three to five years
New grassroots music venues would be permitted to sell alcohol until midnight in the city safety area and 1am outside it. New performance venues would be able to secure midnight licences.
The report said: “This policy recognises the need to encourage live music, dancing and theatre for the wider cultural benefits of the community generally.
“In addressing such issues, the potential for limited disturbance in neighbourhoods will always be carefully balanced with these wider benefits.
“The impact of licensing on regulated entertainment, particularly live music and dancing, will be monitored.”
The Music Venue Trust said that it supported the safety-based approach and the recognition that drinking alcohol was not the primary activity for music-led venues.
One respondent was concerned that more late-night venues would add to the pressures on the police and affect struggling businesses.
Other proposed changes include extending opening hours across Brighton and Hove to 1am for restaurants where customers are required to have a sit-down meal if they want to drink.
New fast food outlets would continue to be restricted to an 11pm closing time in the new city safety area unless they can show exceptional circumstances.
Outside the city safety area, late-night licences would apply until midnight, with deliveries allowed until 2am, unless the applicant can show exceptional circumstances.
The policy report recognised that tourism was worth about £1.3 billion a year to the local economy through direct and indirect spending and supported nearly 24,000 jobs.
It said that the cultural sector and creative industries accounted for 10 per cent of all jobs and 21 per cent of business in Brighton and Hove.
The Licensing Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 3pm tomorrow (Thursday 6 November). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
The best way to protect the vulnerable lower crime ect ect is really simple. Shut the off licences down.
Pubs and bars are to expensive for the day drinkers who create so much of the trouble.