Cumulative Impact Assessment Consultation

Overview

Hackney Council is carrying out a 12 week consultation to determine whether a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA), should be published for Shoreditch and Dalston.

A CIA helps to manage the number and type anddensity of licensed premises  within an area. Licensed premises include places which sell alcohol, provide late-night hot food or hot drinks (between 11pm and 5am), or where a range of sporting, music or performance events take place.

A CIA would only apply to new licensing applications. Existing licences would not be affected.

Background

Last year, Hackney Council commissioned Six Till Six and MAKE Associates to conduct research to establish if the number or density of licensed premises in Hackney is having an adverse ‘cumulative impact’ on crime and disorder, public
safety, public nuisance or protecting children from harm.

This included interviews and a research survey to capture the views of residents, businesses, visitors, those that work in the borough and any other interested parties.

Cumulative Impact

Cumulative impact is the term used to describe the effect that having a number of licensed premises in a concentrated area can have on the four licensing objectives which are: 

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• The prevention of public nuisance
• The protection of children from harm

The cumulation of licensed premises can have a disproportionate demand on local services such as transport, public lavatories, waste collection and street cleaning. There may also be a higher level of crime and disorder, often associated with alcohol related violence that can take place which will draw in additional demands on the police as well as the ambulance service.

Cumulative Impact Assessment

The research by Six Till Six and MAKE Associates has informed a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA), which the Council, as the Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003, is proposing to publish for Shoreditch and Dalston.

A Cumulative Impact Assessment helps a licensing authority to manage the number and type of licensed premises within an area, where there is evidence to show that the number or density of licensed premises may be contributing to crime and disorder and public nuisance.

A Cumulative Impact Assessment would relate only to applications for new premises licences and club premises certificates, and applications to vary existing premises licences and club premises certificates in a specified area. Existing licences would not be affected.

How the draft CIA was developed

Six Till Six Ltd and Make Associates were commissioned to carry out the review of cumulative impact in the borough to establish whether there was evidence to show that areas in the borough with a significant number of licensed premises were having an adverse impact on crime and disorder and public nuisance.

The areas chosen for analysis were: Shoredith and Dalston (former Special Policy Areas), and three further ‘areas of interest’; namely Broadway Market & London Fields, Hackney Central and Hackney Wick.

The review, completed in November 2023, involved crime mapping, analysis of CCTV, ambulance, noise and licensed premises data, fieldwork and stakeholder interviews over a 6 month period. Data was compared before and after the pandemic. 

Findings of the Cumulative Impact Research Report

Six Till Six Ltd / Make Associates have produced a detailed report of their research findings.

The analysis showed that there is still a negative impact associated with alcohol licenced premises in Shoreditch and Dalston. Shoreditch and Dalston were previously Special Policy Areas, which meant that new licensing applications had to demonstrate that they would not have a negative impact on the area. These expired in 2023. As such the Council is proposing to publish a CIA for Shoreditch
and Dalston. You can view an executive summary of their report here.

Shoreditch (former Special Policy Area)

• Shoreditch remains Hackney’s most significant hotspot for recorded crime, London Ambulance Service (LAS) callouts, as well as for the issuing of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and for logged CCTV incidents.
• Shoreditch is the area in the borough that experienced the most crime however there has been a significant fall in crime rates and LAS callouts between 2019-2022 which appeared to continue falling in 2023.
• Shoreditch was the only area where the majority of all reported crime and other incidents took place at night. There had been a significant improvement in crime rates post-pandemic; however the level of crime in Shoreditch remained high.
• Issues such as loitering and use of nitrous oxide (which had since been made illegal) remained considerable. 
• The evidence shows that there has been a very significant post-pandemic improvement in crime rates within the previous Shoreditch SPA area, as there has been across most of the other areas analysed. This post-pandemic improvement is also seen in significant reductions in LAS alcohol-related callouts to these areas.

Dalston

• There had been an overall reduction in crime and LAS callouts in the last four years. 
• Crime was approximately half the level seen in Shoreditch and was concentrated within approximately 400 metres of the centre. Where these do occur they are mostly in the central part of the previous Dalston SPA.
• In the northern and southern stretches of the previous Dalston SPA, crime remained consistently low with relatively few licensed premises. However, crime levels were worse during the day which was unusual for an area with such a thriving Night Time Economy (NTE). 
• The distribution of incidents differs between day and night, with the pandemic impacting these trends.
• The evidence shows that there has been a very significant post-pandemic improvement in crime rates within the previous Dalston SPA area, as there has been across most of the other areas analysed. This post-pandemic improvement is also seen in significant reductions in LAS alcohol-related callouts to these areas.

To view the maps of the proposed Shoreditch and Dalson CIA, click here.

Broadway Market and London Fields, Hackney Central and Hackney Wick 

• The areas of Broadway Market and London Fields, Hackney Central and Hackney Wick were found to be exhibiting varying levels of crime, London Ambulance Service (LAS) call outs, CCTV and noise incidents. However, the correlation between these negative impacts and licensed premises in those areas are not as pronounced. As such, these areas are not considered to be suffering from negative cumulative impact to the level that any intervention is required. 

You can view the evidence in the Cumulative Impact Research Report here.

What are we proposing?

Hackney Council is proposing to publish a CIA for Shoreditch and Dalston, based on the evidence from the review carried out by Six Till Six Ltd and Make Associates. We are not considering publishing a CIA in respect of Broadway Market and London Fields, Hackney Central and Hackney Wick.

The area formerly within the Shoreditch Special Policy Area, and the area to the south west highlighted in the research, will be included in the proposed Cumulative Impact Assessment if it is published. This would apply to:

a) All relevant authorisations (e.g new premises licences and club premises certificates and variations of these) within the defined geographical area or;
b) Only to relevant authorisations (e.g. premises licences) of a particular kind within the defined geographical area.

Why your views matter

Why are we consulting?

The Council has a statutory duty to consult before publishing a CIA.  

• We’re seeking views on whether the former SPAs of Dalston and Shoreditch (the area formerly within the Shoreditch Special Policy Area, and the area to the south west) are suitable areas for the purpose of a CIA.
• Any comments on whether we need to widen or narrow the scope of a prospective CIA.

Next Steps

Following the consultation, the Council’s Licensing Committee will consider the responses and make any changes it considers necessary as a result of feedback before a decision is made on whether to publish a CIA (to be reviewed at least every three years).

Who do we want to hear from?

The consultation is open to all. We would particularly encourage local residents, businesses and licensees within and near the Dalston SPA and the Shoreditch SPA to let us know their views.

For more information:

Email: consultation@hackney.gov.uk 

Phone: 020 8356 4942 to request paper copies of the consultation documents.