Newcastle pub late-night levy plea to government

More than 200 bars in Newcastle pay the levy

A council is asking the government to scrap a charge levied on pubs for staying open past midnight despite them being closed since March.

Newcastle City Council said the wording of the legislation meant it could not unilaterally waive or reduce the late-night levy on pubs, clubs and bars.

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said it was "simply not right" for pubs to be forced to pay the levy while closed.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

Camra's Tyneside and Northumberland branch spokesman, Thomas Robson, said the lockdown had pushed some pubs to the "brink of closure". 

"If we want pubs to reopen when lockdown is over it is vital we give them the economic relief they need to survive," he said.

"Councils are in fact unable to relieve this cost or even freeze it due to the tight and specific wording of the Late Night Levy law." 

'Financially struggling'

The city council charges 240 premises a levy of up to £4,400 a year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

This raises about £350,000 which the authority spends on street cleaning, extra police patrols, taxi rank marshals and the Street Pastors programme.

The fee is enshrined in legislation and cannot be altered without government permission.

Campaigners and politicians are calling on ministers to approve a reduction to help financially struggling businesses.

Labour council leader Nick Forbes has asked the government to give local authorities power to reduce or waive the levy themselves.