Newcastle scraps its Late Night Levy, ending charges of up to £4,400 a year for late venues

Newcastle City Council has voted to revoke the city's Late Night Levy, the charge on pubs, bars and clubs licensed to open after midnight. Full council agreed it on Wednesday 7 October.

What changes - No new levy bills will be issued, and the scheme ends on 31 October - Bills already owed for last year still need paying - Venues were paying between £299 and £4,400 a year each, about £215,000 a year in total and almost £3.5m since it began in 2013

What replaces it NE1, the city's business improvement district, will set up a new board and run a fund backed by NE1 and the council, set at about £216,000, the same as the levy's last full year. Of that, £151,000 goes to the Police and Crime Commissioner and £65,000 to the council, and the board can also fund voluntary groups working on night-time safety, especially for women and girls. Northumbria Police says its uniformed and plain-clothes patrols will carry on.

Council leader Colin Ferguson said the levy was "no longer fit for purpose" and placed an unfair burden on a small number of venues. NE1 chief executive Stephen Patterson called it an "outdated anomaly".

What it means for your site: if you trade past midnight in Newcastle, that line comes off your costs from November. The safety schemes it paid for, such as street and taxi marshals and the Safe Haven van, are meant to continue, so keep your team plugged into them.