London Nightlife Taskforce - Terms of Reference

London’s nightlife is under pressure. Issues include the cost-of-living crisis, changing behaviours and audience expectations, rising business costs, rent increases, recruitment and retention of skilled staff, noise complaints, new developments and complex regulations such as licensing and planning. As part of his commitment to help London’s nightlife thrive, the Mayor has committed to create an independent London Nightlife Taskforce.

The Taskforce aims to: understand the challenges and opportunities facing London’s nightlife; and produce a report and action plan with practical and deliverable recommendations to help London’s nightlife (including the nightlife sector, late night pubs and other hospitality venues) adapt and be sustainable in the long term. It will focus on a collaborative vision for the future, setting out how businesses, audiences, communities, London government, the Met Police, TfL, place makers and others can practically work together and help the sector to thrive.

The Taskforce will submit its report and action plan to the Mayor in the second half of 2025. This will inform the Mayor’s plans to support London’s nightlife, including the new Nightlife Fund. The Mayor would also welcome the view of the taskforce on the future of the Night Czar role.

The purpose of the Taskforce is to bring together people with an interest in London’s nightlife and lead a conversation about its future. This will involve London’s diverse nightlife communities, businesses, the public, key stakeholders like councils, the Met Police and Transport for London (TfL) and those who support and enable the capital’s nightlife, such as night workers.

The Taskforce will gather evidence, insights and ideas by working with a team of global nightlife experts from VibeLab and University College London (UCL). It aims to understand London’s evolving nightlife scenes and the social and economic factors that are changing them. It will build a detailed picture of the barriers and opportunities facing London’s nightlife.

• Commitment: Members commit to participating in meetings, engaging in feedback, supporting the research and engagement programme, and supporting other members when they can. Members will not promote products or services or use the taskforce to advance a particular agenda.
• Collaboration: Members commit to working in a spirit of collaboration and transparency, taking actions that advance the Taskforce’s aims. Where another's work inspires members, they commit to celebrating and referencing the idea's originator.
• Confidentiality: Respect for privacy and confidentiality of shared information within the Taskforce is paramount. Members will aim to ensure everyone feels safe in discussing the issues they wish to raise. Papers received by the members and the details of emails, communications, and meeting discussions are confidential to the members until and unless it is agreed between the members and the chair that they should be shared or made public.
• Inclusivity: The Taskforce is committed to promoting diversity and inclusivity, running the Taskforce in an inclusive way, and ensuring a wide range of voices and perspectives are heard and valued. Nighttime communities are deeply embedded in forging inclusive environments, and we recognise how much nightlife culture owes to minoritised and marginalised communities.
• Politically neutral: The Taskforce is not a political forum but will engage with London’s democratic structures through an evidence-based, factual, unbiased approach. We aim to take into account a wide range of perspectives and to approach everyone who engages with the taskforce in an objective, evidence based, and meaningful way.
• Mutual Respect: Members will treat each other, and all stakeholders they interact with, with respect and dignity. We have zero tolerance for all forms of harassment and strict action will be taken for bullying behaviour. The chair and the secretariat are available to support all members and help resolve any conflicts or concerns they may have respectfully and confidentially.

The Taskforce will consist of twelve members, including the chair, appointed by the Mayor. The Mayor reserves the right to terminate members’ appointments in consultation with the Chair if they cannot participate in sufficient taskforce activities or breach the taskforce’s terms of reference.

The taskforce aims to harness the strength of the capital’s diverse nightlife
communities, including new and established artists, promoters, venue operators and industry bodies, to help sustain London’s nightlife economy and culture.

1. Cameron Leslie, Co-Founder of Fabric (Chair)
2. Alice Fuller, Consultant and former Corsica Studios Operations and Art Director of Corsica Studios
3. Georgina Wald, Corporate Communications Manager, Fullers
4. Kate Nicholls OBE, CEO of UK Hospitality
5. Lily London, DJ and Radio Presenter
6. Mike Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association
7. Nadine Noor, Founder of Pxssy Palace
8. Nathanael Williams, Co-Founder of Colour Factory
9. Provhat Rahman, Co-Founder of Daytimers Collective
10. Sam Spencer, Head of Operations of Broadwick Live
11. Sophie Brownlee, External Affairs Manager of Music Venue Trust

Taskforce members who are freelancers or on low income will receive an honorarium of £50 per hour up to a maximum of £1,500 for the project's duration. Taskforce members can also claim reasonable travel expenses within London.

Taskforce members will be appointed for approximately six months, beginning on Tuesday 4 February and concluding with the submission of the taskforce’s report and action plan to the Mayor. Members will commit to approximately 10 meetings, including at least monthly full group meetings.

In addition, all members will lead or help organise at least two evidence-gathering sessions. All members will participate in a workshop with Vibelab and UCL to review the research findings and agree on the report's contents and action plan.

The chair may ask members to undertake additional activity, review documents, or carry out activity over email between meetings as needed and subject to their availability.

The Greater London Authority will provide secretariat support. An agenda and accompanying documents will be circulated at least one week before all meetings. Notes and actions from meetings will be circulated to members within a week of the meeting taking place unless notified otherwise.