The Licensing Committee of Southwark Council was scheduled to meet on Tuesday 21 July 2026 to discuss the review of Cumulative Impact Areas (CIAs) within the borough. The meeting's agenda also included the confirmation of minutes from a previous meeting.

Review of Cumulative Impact Areas in Southwark

A significant portion of the meeting was scheduled to be dedicated to a review of the Cumulative Impact Areas (CIAs) in Southwark, as mandated by the Licensing Act 2003. The report pack detailed the assessment of current CIAs and monitoring areas, utilising data on licensed premises density, crime statistics, ambulance callouts, anti-social behaviour, and public complaints.

The assessment aimed to determine the status of existing CIAs and monitoring areas. The report pack was expected to recommend the following:

• Retaining Borough & Bankside and Peckham as CIAs.
• Designating Elephant & Castle as a new CIA, due to its escalating risk profile and concentration of alcohol-related harm.
• Removing Camberwell from CIA status, based on observed improvements and lower risk profiles.
• Discontinuing all monitoring areas, as there was no evidence of ongoing risk.

The report highlighted that CIAs are designated zones where the concentration of licensed premises is considered to be adversely impacting the licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm. The policy for CIAs creates a presumption that new or varied licence applications within these areas would likely add to the existing cumulative impact and should therefore be refused, unless applicants can demonstrate otherwise.

The review process involved analysing various datasets, including Metropolitan Police Service crime statistics, London Ambulance Service alcohol-related callouts, and local authority complaints. The methodology employed Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and statistical standardisation to create a Composite Risk Index (CRI) for each area. This index was used to compare areas against borough-wide averages and identify those with higher cumulative impact.

The report also touched upon the equality and human rights implications of the proposed changes, noting that the policy aims to encourage diversity within the night-time economy and protect venues that serve specific community groups, such as LGBTIQ+ venues. It acknowledged that while CIAs are not intended to disadvantage any particular group, the rising costs of business rates and rent could place a financial burden on some businesses.

The meeting was scheduled to consider the findings of this assessment and the recommendations made within the report pack.