Wouldn’t it be nice…

With the new Licensing Act 6 months into operation, John Tierney suggests that it is unlikely to achieve one of its main objectives.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a dream: that the 2003 Licensing Act (which came into force in November 2005) will provide the basis for a transformation in the nature of the night-time economy in England and Wales. In the dream, town and city centres will no longer be dominated by concentrations of high-volume pubs, bars and clubs oriented primarily towards the business of encouraging young people to drink large amounts of alcohol. No longer will these ‘entertainment quarters’ be shunned by older (and some younger) people because of concerns about crime and disorderly behaviour, and a jaundiced view of the attractions on offer. In the dream, couples with children, the middle-aged and the elderly will cheerfully rub shoulders with young revellers as they too enjoy the delights of a night on the town.Some, as the fancy takes them,may drink alcohol, others may opt for a citron pressé or a milky latte, and the streets will bethronged with a mélange ofwell-behaved promenaders. Exactly how the 2003 Licensing Act will facilitate this transformation is, though, somewhat hazy.

None the less, it is a dream shared by many people, and the reference point is, of course, continental Europe. “We want to be more European”, said the then minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Richard Caborn, a couple of years ago, when arguing in favour of the new Licensing Act. At about the same time, a councillor from Greater Manchester – whose city centre night-time economy has been particularly successful (at least in economic terms) put it like this: “I spent time in Berlin over Christmas and was struck by the mixed age groups that used the city centre. Theirs is very much a café-and-cake culture, and we definitely see that as part of the Manchester vision.”

Also drawing on an image of continental café culture, the Department of Environment has, for over a decade, been arguing that the ‘animation’ and ‘crowding out’ resulting from a broader mix of participants will reduce problems of crime and disorder in town and city centres. What has not been considered is that an intermingling of different groups (including, for example, older people and children), within the context of an already established drinking culture, could lead to an increase in these problems.

Among central government and local authority policymakers striving to realise such a vision, ‘diversity’ has emerged as a key concept. It is acknowledged that making the night-time economy of England and Wales ‘more European’, will require achieving a diverse mix of participants enjoying a diverse range of leisure activities. Town and city centres during the evening, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, are often described as no-go areas for older people and couples with children. However, whilst it is not uncommon for local authorities to label these negative perceptions or concerns as exaggerated (a similar response occurs with respect to the ‘fear of crime’), the central issue is not the degree to which public perceptions correspond with ‘reality’; rather, it is the tolerance threshold associated with different publics. In other words, even if no criminal or serious disorderly behaviour was occurring, the fact that large numbers of inebriated young people are milling around engaging in (normal) boisterous behaviour is likely to act as a disincentive to participation. Community safety initiatives and effective policing (and the police have extra powers under the 2003 Act) can address such things as violent crime, criminal damage and urinating in the street, but they are more or less irrelevant when people are simply having a ‘good time’ and not harming anyone. For this reason alone, attracting current non-participants into town and city centres during the evening will continue to be a major challenge. If we look at the community safety initiatives that have been introduced around the country in recent years, it is clear that, where successful, they have generally made town and city centres safer for ‘typical’ participants in the night-time economy (welcome as that is), rather than acting as an incentive for current non-participants to join in.

Clearly, there also needs to be diversity in terms of what is on offer if these non-participants are to be enticed into the nighttime economy. Restaurants, theatres and cinemas, for instance, could make an important contribution, though as things stand, their impact will be linked to how near they are to heavy drinking areas within a town or city centre, particularly at the weekend. The fundamental stumbling block to the creation of diversity in terms of what is on offer, however, is the market and the way in which it is structured. High street businesses that are not based upon the consumption of alcohol have found it increasingly difficult to compete with those that are - witness the cinemas and retail outlets that have transmogrified into large capacity licensed premises over recent years.

As far as the future is concerned, unless they are remarkably philanthropic, entrepreneurs, in the shape of corporations or individuals, will only alter existing leisure attractions or develop new ones if it is judged to be commercially viable. There may, for example, be local people who would like to see a town centre club providing jazz, country music or late night cabaret, but how realistic is it to expect the development of these sorts of attractions, outside of major conurbations with large reservoirs of guaranteed customers? In terms of profitability, events of this nature cannot begin to compare with a one thousand capacity, themed vertical drinking bar.

Given the nature of the market, the power of the drinks industry, patterns of drinking in this country, and the powers available to Licensing Authorities, one would have to be immensely optimistic to believe that the 2003 Act constitutes the basis for the creation of diverse, multicultural, sophisticated and hassle-free leisure zones, at least in the foreseeable future. The reality is that the night-time economy, as it is presently constituted, is an economic sector dependent upon alcohol and, increasingly, one that caters for young customers who themselves are becoming dependent upon alcohol.

John Tierney is Lecturer in Criminology at the School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University