Policing and Crime Bill

If establishments have rushed to apply for a licence before the legislation comes into force, thinking that they will thereby get some advantage in the long run when their local authority adopts the legislation, that view is misplaced. It would be short-sighted of them to do so. The reality is that they will be subject to the legislation, as will new lap-dancing clubs. We understand that there are concerns about aspects of clause 25, including the decision to remove venues that provide infrequent entertainment of the type that we are discussing from the definition of a sex encounter venue. The purpose of the provision is to recognise that not all premises that provide relevant entertainment should be classed as sex encounter venues. An example is a pub that hosts a birthday party for which a strippergram has been booked; we do not believe that such premises should be regulated in the same manner as a lap-dancing club that offers adult entertainment nightly. We accept that not everyone agrees with that distinction, but we believe that the legislation needs to be both targeted and proportionate. In practice, under the provisions, any premises offering relevant entertainment nightly, weekly or even monthly will be required to obtain a licence. Only relatively infrequent or one-off performances of "relevant entertainment" will be permitted without a sex establishment licence; such entertainment will continue to be regulated under the Licensing Act 2003. In Committee, my hon. Friends the Members for Stourbridge (Lynda Waltho), and for City of Durham (Dr. Blackman-Woods), who have done so much to bring the issue to public attention, spoke plainly about their concerns that the provision would create a loophole that would be exploited by lap-dancing operators who wished to avoid tighter regulation. It is clear from amendment 194, which is in the name of my hon. Friends and the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), that those concerns remain. We take those concerns very seriously. It is not our intention to create opportunities for lap-dancing operators to avoid the impact of the reforms, but at this stage, the Government are not minded to remove paragraph 2A(3)(b) of schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, which will be inserted by clause 25. Instead, we propose safeguards against potential abuse of the provision. Government amendments 55 to 59 introduce a limited order-making power that will allow the Secretary of State or, in Wales, Welsh Ministers to tighten the exemption or remove it altogether if there is clear evidence that, following implementation, it is being exploited in a way that is obviously against the spirit of the reforms and the wishes of local people. That will allow us to monitor the situation further, and to respond to concerns quickly by limiting exemption powers, or removing the exemption entirely. I am aware that my hon. Friends the Members for Stourbridge and for City of Durham have raised specific concerns that temporary event notices will enable lap dancing to be provided on a regular basis by a number of licensed establishments working in partnership to facilitate that. We do not believe there is compelling evidence that the problem is likely to occur, because that opportunity already exists, but we take these concerns seriously. Since the Committee stage, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its report on the Licensing Act 2003, which considered a number of issues in relation to temporary event notices and made specific recommendations, including giving local councillors, as representatives of their local community, the ability to object to such notices. Before formally responding to the Select Committee, we will consider more fully all these recommendations and the impact that they will have on other activities covered by temporary event notices. I know that hon. Members would like to see the exemption removed. I hope that the order-making power and the comments that I have made in relation to TENs will give them some reassurance and that they will feel able to withdraw their amendments. Government amendment 54 will clarify the conditions that will allow venues to provide infrequent performances without requiring a sex establishment licence. The amendment makes it clear that in order to provide relevant entertainment without a sex establishment licence, three conditions must be fulfilled: no more than 11 events in any 12-month period, no event lasting longer than 24 hours, and at least one calendar month between events. Amendments 198 and 199 would make schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, and by extension provisions introduced by clause 25, mandatory for all local authorities. My hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham tabled a similar amendment in Committee and I know that these concerns remain. Unless provisions are mandatory, my hon. Friends argue, local people will not be guaranteed a greater say over the regulation of lap-dancing clubs in their area. Schedule 3 of the Act, which also deals with the licensing of other sex establishments, such as sex shops and sex cinemas, is currently optional for local authorities. It recognises that while the presence of sex establishments can raise particular concerns for many local communities, the issues are not necessarily universal. Many local authorities do not have lap-dancing clubs in their area. We cannot be exact regarding numbers, but we estimate that under half of all local authorities have lap-dancing clubs or similar venues in their areas, so the Government do not believe it right to impose the legislation irrespective of need, especially in areas where there are no lap-dancing clubs, and therefore no means of recovering any cost, however small, of implementing the regime.