News / Nighttime Economy
Councillors vote to reinstate nighttime economy adviser role
An extraordinary meeting of the economy & skills committee called by the opposition Labour Party has voted to reinstate the nighttime economy adviser role after it was controversially scrapped.
The adviser headed up the award-winning Bristol Nights project aimed at supporting nightlife and safety after dark.
In 2021, Carly Heath took up the newly-created council-funded role on a salary of £50,000 pro rata part-time.
The decision to close the role was widely criticised when it was taken in March, with councillors saying the matter was not considered through the proper channels and many were unaware of the ensuing change.
Labour councillor Kye Dudd said the necessary paperwork had not been presented and committee members had not had a chance to scrutinise it.
John Smith, Bristol City Council’s executive director of growth & regeneration, said he was confident the decision was taken with due process but acknowledged communication could have been better.
Councillors criticised the lack of scrutiny over the decision to scrap Carly Heath’s role as Bristol’s first nighttime economy adviser – photo: Ellie Pipe
Arguing for the nighttime economy adviser role to be bought back, Green councillor Ani Townsend told the meeting on Friday: “The nighttime economy is struggling massively since Covid and it’s one of the things that brings people to our city.”
The decision has led to “a lack of trust between the council and the sector”, they said.
“All of this has been done without any conversation with any of us.”
Labour used an amendment to force a vote on reinstating the position, which passed unanimously with nine yeses.
“I think it’s clearly the right thing to do,” said Dudd. “It puts the horse back in front of the cart.
“To have taken this away from the sector in the first place was the wrong thing to do.”
A second amendment put forward the idea of creating a nighttime economic advisory board, which was also passed unanimously.
Councillors also questioned why it had taken two months to organise the meeting on such a “urgent matter”, which had been called for in March.
“Do you think two months is an acceptable timeframe for an urgent requisition request?” Dudd asked Lib Dem councillor Andrew Brown, who was chairing the meeting.
The nighttime economy adviser and advisory board’s roles hope to promote and support businesses operating between 6pm and 6am, and to deliver initiatives that make Bristol safer after dark.
Main photo: Rob Browne
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
