Lap dancing licensing reforms pass to House of Lords but roundly criticised for being too weak
The Policing and Crime Bill received its Report Stage/ 3rd Reading on 19.05.09 and saw MPs forcefully call on the Government to strengthen lap dancing licensing reforms. MPs Lynda Waltho (Lab), David Lepper (Lab), Celia Barlow (Lab), Roberta Blackman-Woods MP (Lab), Andrew Slaughter (Lab), Dan Rogerson (Lib-Dem) and Bob Spink (Independent) all called for licensing reforms to be applied universally across England and Wales and for the removal of a ‘frequency loophole’ – warning that failure to do so would lead to a patchwork licensing regime likely to be exploited by the lap dancing industry.
Lap dancing clubs are currently licensed under the Licensing Act 2003 in the same way as cafes and karaoke bars – with a Premises License. This lax regime has led to the number of lap dancing clubs in the UK doubling since 2004 to over 300 establishments, with local communities powerless to stop the spread. Following OBJECT and Fawcett Society’s widely supported campaign to reform licensing (1) the Government pledged to give local communities a greater say in the licensing of lap dancing clubs by allowing councils to licence lap dancing clubs as ‘Sex Encounter Venues’.
However, the reforms are seriously flawed. In their current form they will be optional and will not apply to venues hosting lap dancing less than once a month, despite growing calls for tougher action. A Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee report last week called for lap dancing licensing reforms to be made mandatory for all local councils (2) and local authorities from across the country recently travelled to Parliament to tell Ministers themselves that the new controls will be too weak (3). The reforms will now pass to the House of Lords for scrutiny.
Read our press release here
(1) Key moments in the campaign have included the following:
a. 03/12/08: Lap dancing licensing proposals announced in Queen’s Speech.
b. 25/11/08: Campaign gives evidence to Culture, Media and Sport Committee and hands petition of 10,000 names to No. 10 Downing Street.
c. 18/6/08: a 10 Minute Rule Bill was introduced by Robert Blackman-Woods MP (City of Durham) calling for lapdance clubs to be licensed as Sex Encounter Establishments. The Bill was unopposed and received cross-party support
d. 18/6/08: The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport began a consultation with all local authorities in England and Wales on whether they wanted greater powers to control and regulate lap dancing clubs. 75% of responding local authorities asked for such powers.
(2) The Licensing Act 2003 (Sixth Report of Session 2008-9), released Thursday 14th May 2009, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
(3) On 31/03/09 OBJECT and Fawcett Society organised a Local Authority Evidence Hearing which was attended by Licensing Managers and local councillors, all calling for stronger reforms.
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