Report on London's night time economy

The report mentioned in an earlier entry, London's night time economy, by the City of London Assembly's Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee is now online. From the summary:

The Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee has carried out a scrutiny investigation into London's night time economy to find out what ideas and good practice exist to support the night-time economy and improve things for people who live side-by-side with London’s night life. Among the ideas that we found were:

-- The planning system makes it difficult for councils to have enough control over what goes on in London’s night-time areas, and there are fears that the new licensing laws will make this more difficult.
-- Londoners and business want the tube to run later, especially at weekends.
-- More needs to be done to attract a wider range of people into London’s town centres at night – this should include ideas such as later opening of museums and galleries and more non-alcohol related activities.
--There are good examples of how town-centre managers can help co-ordinate services and work with residents and businesses in London’s night-time areas.
--Good design is needed to make sure that new developments and refurbished properties in these areas include effective sound insulation.
--Design can also help by ‘designing-out’ crime through improving lighting and creating open spaces where people feel safe.
--Londoners and London’s businesses want the media to paint a more accurate picture of night-time London by not always concentrating on the problems.