Brighton and Hove City Council and businesses to discuss licensing policies

Brighton and Hove City Council is required to review its licensing policy regularly and plans to start the process in the coming months.

Labour councillor David McGregor told the council’s Licensing Committee today (Thursday 10 October) that a “summit” would bring together businesses and the council to work out what was needed and to share ideas.

The council’s licensing policy covers all alcohol sales as well as night clubs, late-night food outlets and regulated entertainment such as live music, dancing and performances after 11pm.

Early next year the public would be invited to share their views through the Your Voice section of the council website, he said.

They would be asked what they might want to see in Brighton and Hove, whether it be more varied nightlife, food options or even more night clubs.

Councillor McGregor said that “Brighton and Hove is a safe city – apparently the eighth-safest city in the country”.

There had been less anti-social behaviour over the past 13 years, he said, but “there have been worrying increases in violence and sexual violence in the past couple of years”.

He said: “I know it may not always look like we’re a safe city when you look at the newspapers but I’ve been quite horrified about the recent sexual assaults in our city.

“I’ve been working with Councillor (Julie) Cattell to see the ways we can make our city a safe place and prevent sexual violence against anyone.

“Councillor (Emma) Daniel has unveiled her violence against women and girls strategy and we need to take a lead on that in the committee when we create this licensing policy for 2025 and onward.”

He said that Brighton and Hove had an amazingly high rate of LGBT people and pledged to ensure “we keep this city as open and welcoming as possible and protect those queer spaces as we said we were going to do back in 2023”.

Councillor McGregor added: “One of the ways we can do that is through this licensing policy.

“It’s a great balance of this committee to create a vibrant exciting city that also does everything it can to keep people safe.

“The big question we will have in the summit is what we want Brighton and Hove to be for the next decade.

“This is not a rhetorical question. I genuinely would like some answers to that from the summit to move forward and invite everybody to bring their ideas to this process.”