The government plans to make the state of UK nightlife a "priority"

The health of UK nightlife is high on the agenda of the government, according to a new report.

UK Music, which oversees the recorded and live music industry, has stated that the future of the nighttime economy will be a "priority" moving forward.

Tom Kiehl, the body's director of government and public affairs, said: "The night time economy is something the government will be considering very closely going forward."

He added that nightlife, said to contribute £66 billion to the UK economy, being viewed as a positive is "very much on ministers' plates".

A worrying amount of club closures led to the formation of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), whose chairman Alan Miller believes a more open-minded approach towards clubs needs to be implemented when issues arise.

"There's been an impulse just to regulate or even review clubs or close them down. When issues come up they say 'look crime's up, let's reduce it'. The first impulse is to regulate and clamp down - that's a problem."

Miller added: "In every respect the benefits vastly [of nightlife] outweigh the costs. But sometimes people hold onto an old script [that says] nothing good happens in the night time."

Carl Cox, Jackmaster and Roni Size are among those backing Nightlife Matters, an initiative by NTIA, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has previously expressed his intention of saving the club scene.

Earlier this year, the government introduced a new legislation which means residental developers will have to go through stringent measures before building near music venues. The Night Tube also launches next month.

[Via: Newsbeat]

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter