City planning: the need to reclaim
town and city centres
349. We have argued in relation to every aspect of
policy considered so far—enforcement powers, policing, licensing
and alcohol industry contribution—that whilst improvements
can and should be made, this would be unlikely to make a fundamental
impact on the problems of disorder in town and city centres. Professor
Hobbs told us that existing policy, with its "emphasis on
individual licences for individuals and individual premises is
something of a red herring". He argued instead that the emphasis
should be entirely different:
The night time economy is a largely unregulated youth
orientated zone that floats on alcohol. It is an economy that
due to the target age range within most of its consumers fall,
and the commodity upon which it relies, is highly risky. However,
despite being a high risk environment, it remains an unplanned
economy, driven by market forces. To reduce exacerbating problems
of violence and disorder, any city and town with a night-time
economy should be required by law to create a plan that ensures
adequate Police, transport, toilet, hospital and ambulance facilities.
Public safety should be given the highest priority, and if these
conditions cannot be met then the economy should not be allowed
to expand.[438]
350. The notion that proper city planning must be
the central part of the response to alcohol-related disorder was
echoed by several other witnesses. The Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire,
Steven Green argued:
It is all about planning in its wider sense, it seems
to me. We can do what we want in policy terms but we have to plan
for it. What worries me is that we seem to have taken a policy
decision which says, "We want a more liberal regime in terms
of licensing and the business side of it but what we have not
done is guarantee that the infrastructure will be put in place
for that to happen. Professor Hobbs' point about infrastructure
on transport, on toilets, on police officers, on medical workers,
on ambulances, on all those things is very important. Routinely
I find that on a Saturday night my police officers are ferrying
people to casualty because they have run out of ambulances.[439]
351. ACPO recommended that "local authorities
should be setting wide ranging town centre plans, again driven
by intelligence, which aims to set in place proven measures that
reduce crime and disorder".[440]
It gave specific examples, including the need for the town centre
layout and practices to be adapted "to incorporate crime
reduction principles such as street lighting, lines of visibility,
siting of footpaths, accredited door staff, public transport availability
at closing time, siting of taxi ranks and licensing of refreshment
stalls".[441]
In general terms, it noted that "good design has a critical
role to play in prevention, both in the built environment of town
centres and in licensed premises themselves.[442]
Its President, Mr Fox, told us that it is rare in practice for
town and city centres to have the necessary facilities to cope
with the night-time economy:
There may be shining examples, but there are not
many centres where you can find the toilets open at midnight,
buses home after midnight, places where you can get non-alcoholic
drinks and food—they are very, very limited.[443]
352. We think that it is important to distinguish
between things that can be done now and things that will take
some time to develop. An example of the latter is the need for
greater diversity in terms of the type of establishment in an
area and, as a corollary to this, the need to reverse the over-concentration
of licensed premises aimed at the under-25s.[444]
In this respect, the ODPM's recent 'How to' guide points to changing
in planning law which tightens up permitted changes of use for
A3 (food and drinks) premises and points to the need to assess
the cumulative impact of development in deciding planning applications.[445]
We note also that a new Planning Policy Statement 6 is about to
be published which may encourage greater diversity.
353. In the meantime, there are things that can and
should be done immediately. For instance, several witnesses stressed
the importance of adequate night-time transport. Professor Hobbs
argued:
Transport is the big one to get people out of the
city centre. We are very good at getting people in at seven o'clock
in the evening but usually the last bus leaves about quarter past
11 just when people are moving on to the club or to late night
licensed premises. […] I think that transport is absolutely
top of the list.[446]
This was backed by ACPO and Mr Green.[447]
More generally, measures mentioned above such as the adequate
provision of police, ambulance and A&E services, the introduction
of sufficient public urinals, the incorporation of crime reduction
principles into town and city centres and proper placing of taxi
ranks are all measures that could be implemented immediately.
354. Under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act
1998, local authorities already have the duty to consider the
effects of their decisions on crime and disorder. We have heard,
however, that this has been ineffective in leading to the type
of city planning that would be necessary if a major impact was
to be made on alcohol-related disorder.[448]
In addition, Mr Doyle has told us that the courts are not bound
by section 17 in their considerations.[449]
355. Under the Local Government Act 2003, local authorities
have the power to invite local businesses to contribute to extra
services in areas known as Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).
The proposer would develop a proposal describing the additional
services and the cost to ratepayers. All ratepayers in the BID
area would then vote on the proposal in a ballot, with approval
for the proposal having to meet two tests: first, a simple majority
of those voting must vote in favour; second, those voting in favour
must represent a majority by rateable value. This "dual-key"
mechanism is intended to protect against large firms forcing through
a proposal against the wishes of small firms, or vice versa.[450]
But whilst the introduction of BIDs may have some potential to
assist with problems of disorder in town centres, they are not
directed specifically to those premises (on or off licensed) which
sell alcohol.
356. Overall, the problem of alcohol-related disorder
must be addressed through proper city planning, in its widest
sense. We accept that not everything can change immediately: it
will take some time to reverse the over-concentration of licensed
premises in some areas of towns and cities; equally, it will take
time to introduce a greater diversity of premises into an area.
We note in this respect that a new Planning Policy Statement 6
is anticipated which may deal with some of these issues: the test
will be whether it enables local authorities to introduce greater
diversity. However, some measures can and should be taken immediately.
357. We recommend that all local authorities with
a designated disorder area should have a duty to produce a plan
indicating how they will provide the infrastructure to cope with
the night-time economy and what would be needed to finance that
plan, taking into account the mandatory contributions from the
alcohol industry.
358. In addition, we conclude that adequate late-night
transport is absolutely essential if a real impact is to be made
on levels of alcohol-related disorder. We recommend, as a matter
of urgency, that the Government identifies the 50 areas in which
alcohol-related disorder is highest, and works closely with local
government in helping it to solve any logistical problems. We
recommend also that in these 50 areas, the Government should assess
whether mandatory contributions from the alcohol industry are
likely to be sufficient to cover the cost of local transport and
provide additional funding if necessary.
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