A legal challenge has been launched against plans to hit pubs, clubs and bars across Liverpool with extra fees for opening after midnight.
Liverpool council is set to impose a late night levy from April 1 in a bid to raise funds to help the authorities oversee the city’s nightlife.
But an appeal for a judicial review of the decision has now been submitted as businesses attempt to fight back against charges they believe could put jobs at risk.
Under the plans any alcohol-selling venue open between midnight and 6am will be forced to pay additional fees to help police the thousands of people who enjoy the city’s nightlife at weekends.
The cost is set to range from £220 to £4,440 a year, depending on the size of each business.
Nightspot bosses breathed a sigh of relief last March when the plan was rejected by the city’s specialist licensing panel over concerns it would force venues out of business.
Yet months later that decision was over-ruled at a full council meeting, where councillors voted to introduce the fee for a trial year.
Those close to city bar owners had warned the levy would be “catastrophic” for business and questioned why the extra money, estimated at more than £500,000 a year, was needed when Liverpool enjoys Purple Flag status – a national accolade celebrating how safe and vibrant its nightlife is.
The fight against the levy is now set to be considered in court after calls for a judicial review were submitted this week.
Handed in on behalf of one of Liverpool’s biggest nightlife companies, Pub Invest Group Ltd, the appeal argues the decision was based on a “flawed” consultation process and the “irrational” actions of the council – which supported the levy despite the same evidence leading the licensing panel to reject the proposals.
In documents seen by the ECHO, lawyers for Pub Invest Group Ltd argue: “The council’s licensing and gambling sub-committee convened on March 24, 2016 specifically to hear evidence and investigate the prospects of a late night levy and recommended to the full council as a consequence that the late night levy should not be adopted. On November 9, 2016, the full council resolved to adopt the late night levy, without new or any different evidence and without giving reasons as to why they rejected the recommendation of their sub-committee.”
The levy, if implemented, will cover the whole of Liverpool and not just the city centre, with 800 businesses – from convenience stores to clubs – hit with the fees.
It is expected to raise around £360,500 for Merseyside Police and £154,500 for the council each year.
At the time it was introduced a Liverpool council spokesman said: “The Late Night Levy scheme will be trialled from next April and this will then be reviewed after a year.
“The main aims of the levy are to support the police in their after-hours activities and to enhance the cleansing operations across the city in response to the litter generated by late night revellers.”
This article was originally published in the Liverpool Echo
