Local authorities call on government to plug holes in lap dancing licensing reforms

Licensing officials and councillors from across the country met with MPs and Peers at a Local Authority Evidence Hearing on Tuesday 31st March to urge the government to strengthen proposed reforms to lap dancing club licensing. Cross-party council representatives called for licensing reforms to be universally applied across England and Wales and for the removal of a frequency-based exemption. The evidence hearing was organised by OBJECT and the Fawcett Society in conjunction with the London Licensing Forum.

Licensing officials warned that flawed reforms would play into the hands of an industry adept at manipulating regulation and give rise to a postcode lottery in which only some local communities are given a greater say in the licensing of lap dancing venues. They also pointed out that a frequency-based exemption will create a loophole for the growing number of leisure venues turning to lap dancing or stripping nights as a ‘recession revenue booster’. Download our press release (pdf).