Newcastle is well known for its cosmopolitan night life with people travelling in from across the country to experience all it has to offer.
Newcastle’s night life covers a range of activities including pubs and bars, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, casinos, events and retail which create a vibrant and attractive city to visit.
Newcastle’s night time economy plays an important part in creating a vibrant, sustainable economy for the city. Approximately 19m people visit Newcastle each year spending at least £300m on food and drink.
However, excessive consumption of alcohol can have health implications on individuals as well as placing significant economic impact across services such as hospitals, police, fire service and ambulance services.
Safe Newcastle partners regularly discuss the positive and negative impacts from the night time economy and put in place services and interventions to support people have a safe enjoyable night out.
Late Night Levy
Newcastle’s ‘Late Night Levy’ is an annual levy fee that licensed premises authorised to supply alcohol anytime between midnight and 6am are required to pay, contributing to the council and police services provided during the night time economy. Many interventions have been implemented through the levy including:
- Safe Haven – a safe place for vulnerable people to go to get help, this is placed in a key location in the city centre at busy times
- Marshalled Taxi Ranks – busy taxi ranks are marshalled at busy times ensuring that people can exit the city centre quickly and safely
- Street Marshalls – trained security staff patrol around the city centre at busy times to provide an extra presence on the street and deal with issues quickly before they can escalate
- Additional Police – the levy supports the police to deploy additional officers at busy times such as bank holidays, football matches etc
- Club Scan – ID card scanning system has been placed in some bars and clubs to restrict opportunities for underage drinking and disorder
- CCTV – Additional CCTV to monitor the busy streets of Newcastle
- Street Pastors – volunteers who patrol the city centre to seek out vulnerable people who may need support