Islington Lib Dems join national campaign to close Lapdancing Loophole

12.44.14pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 21st Aug 2008

Councillors Ursula Woolley and Tracy Ismail

Islington's ruling Liberal Democrats have joined forces with national women's rights groups, the Fawcett Society and Object, to fight for a greater say for local communities in whether lap-dancing clubs should open near their homes.

Last October Lib Dem councillors fought against an application to turn the landmark Archway Tavern into a lap-dancing club, but found their hands tied by a loophole in Labour's 2003 licensing laws. These laws do not allow councils in London to stop pubs or bars becoming "sex encounter establishments" if they already have a license to serve alcohol.

Together with these women's rights groups, the Islington Lib Dems are urging the Government to introduce a bill when Parliament returns this year to close the loophole. A joint letter has been sent to the Government, which was published in The Times on the 15th of August.

Lib Dem Chair of Islington Licensing Committee, Councillor Tracy Ismail, said:

"It's time to give local people a real voice in the character of their neighbourhoods. The local council should be able to regulate where, when, and on what terms lap dancing clubs may be established.

"The Labour Government's licensing loophole leaves us powerless to stop the spread of striptease into residential areas like Archway, and we need to change that."

The letter sent with the Fawcett Society and Object reads:

On the final day of a consultation on how lap dancing clubs are licensed we call on the Government to enact urgent reforms and give local authorities greater regulatory powers. Since the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003 the number of UK lap dancing clubs has doubled - and local authorities have been powerless to stop the spread. Lap dancing clubs are in contradiction to efforts to promote gender equality. Yet by boxing lap dancing clubs into the same licensing category as cafes, and concurrently requiring the promotion of gender equality, the hands of local authorities have been tied.

Various solutions to this problem have been proposed, including tinkering with the Licensing Act 2003. This approach suffers from a fatal flaw - it assumes that the Act is up to the job of licensing lap dancing clubs. It is not. As venues offering thoroughly gendered entertainment similar in nature to sex cinemas or peep shows, lap dancing clubs need to be recognised, regulated and licensed for what they are: part of the commercial sex industry. Legislation primarily designed to regulate cafes and karaoke bars is not the vehicle for this. Neither is relying on planning controls.

Instead the only viable solution is to allow local authorities to licence lap dancing clubs as Sex Encounter Establishments - venues that provide visual sexual entertainment. This would give local authorities vital powers to regulate where, when and on what terms lap dancing clubs may be established. It would also make it easier for licensing committees to listen to residents.

We urge the Government to introduce a Public Bill to this effect early in the new Parliamentary term. It is time to give local authorities and local communities a voice.