THE Liverpool City Central Business Improvement District (BID) covers Liverpool city centre’s core retail area, excluding Liverpool One.

Areas covered are Queen Square, Elliot Street, Great Charlotte Street, Ranelagh Street, Church Street and Lord Street, the Cavern Quarter, Whitechapel and Bold Street.

Around 650 businesses are included in the BID, and each pays a levy on top of their business rates to fund it.

In return, BID provides enhanced services including extra street cleaners, “child safe” shopping zones, dedicated security officers patrolling the area and an annual programme of events.

During the debate, BID chief executive Ged Gibbons explained how the initiative had been hugely beneficial to the city centre.

He said: “Our business plan was very simple – create a clean, green, safe and animated environment.

“I places like Bold Street, I think the BID has been transformational.

“We work with the police and a lot of what we do is invisible. People feel very safe in Liverpool now.

“All the cleaning that takes place overnight on Fridays and Saturdays would not happen without the BID.

“We have made sure the environment is clean.”

Utility owner Dick Mawdsley, who operates two outlets in Bold Street, claims being a BID member costs him “a couple of thousand pounds a year per store” and says the regular cleaning is the main benefit.

However, he identified a wider cultural issue in the city centre – litter.

“That is a major bugbear and I don’t think we have cracked it yet,” he said.

“There is a mind-set among some people that they can just dump their litter in the street.

“I don’t know if this is just an issue for Liverpool – I think it is a matter of civic pride.”

Traders in Liverpool One get similar services to that offered by the BID, and that is funded through the service charges paid to Grosvenor.