Strip Pubs in London

Hackney Council's Licensing Committee has drawn up a Draft Sex Establishment Licensing Policy which proposes having none in any ward of the borough.

That would mean the four gentlemen's clubs and one sex shop currently resident in Hackney would have to argue why they should be allowed to stay open when they re-new their licence.

The committee met on Tuesday March 23 to discuss the draft policy which will go for public consultation later in the year and could then be adopted.

It seems that officers of Hackney council have been visiting the some of the strip pubs in that borough telling them that they are going to close them down for no reason other than that they can under the Harperson laws.

London's strip pub scene is centred east of the City of London and much of it falls under the administration of the Borough of Hackney. Some of the pubs have been open for between 15 and 40 years.

Recently Hackney council invited residents to have their say about a nil policy being proposed for adult entertainment in Hackney. In essence it means no more licenses will be granted nor will existing ones be renewed, when they come up for renewal.

According to Cllr Chris Kennedy: The Licensing Committee is proposing a 'nil' policy on licensed sex establishments as we do not believe they fit with the character of our town centres and neighbourhoods.

The consultation which began last month will end December 13th and will ask the Council to adopt the revised policy on January 26th.

Currently Hackney has a total of 5 adult establishments, all located on the southwestern tip of the borough bordering on the City of London financial centre.

Four of them offer strip tease and lap dancing, totally nude. They are long established and famed: The White Horse,  The Rainbow Sports Bar both on Shoreditch High Street, Browns and Ye Olde Axe on Hackney Road. The fifth venue is a discreet adult store – Expectations on Great Eastern Street that caters more to the gay community.

To the best of my knowledge none of them have ran afoul of vice laws such as prostitution, which would usually guarantee criminal prosecution, revocation of license and closure. So why is Hackney Council proposing a nil policy for adult entertainment venues?

Pauline Briscoe owner of The White Horse on Shoreditch High Street says: If a nil policy is introduced, we will have to let go of our staff, who depend on us for a living. That will be more people claiming benefit. Our establishment has never been a problem.

Briscoe, who closes her club, The White Horse, at midnight says her flat above the White Horse is next to a bus stop and she is awoken at 4 am when clubbers are pouring out of the night clubs. She said the noise and chaos can be quite unbearable.

Regardless of who frequents lap dancing clubs, there are women who depend on the money they earn. One of them who spoke to Hackney Hive is a 21 year old Uni student said: This is worrying for me as I find I can fit dancing around my education easier than other part time work. I also don't have to work as many hours as I would have to in a more tradition job, to make the money I do.

Hackney Council Out of Line

Based on article from hackneycitizen.co.uk

It is not clear that Hackney Council's nil policy is in line with changing trends in public opinion. A survey carried out as part of the 27 September Sunday Morning Live discussion on BBC1 showed overwhelming public support for accepting prostitution, with 71% of the British public in favour and only 29% against.

This echoes a government funded Ipsos MORI poll in June 2008: 59% agreed that prostitution is a perfectly reasonable choice that women should be free to make.

In the Sunday Morning Live debate, Catherine Stephens of the International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) called for policy that solves problems based on evidence and reality, rather than on ideology, dramatic individual cases and stereotypes. She argued that stigmatisation of sex work plays a large part in violence and trafficking.

According to the IUSW the clients are not the problem; they cite evidence showing that the majority of robbery, abuse and physical or sexual violence experienced by sex workers comes from those who do not pay for sex. Many assailants express hatred of sex workers and appear to feel their actions are legitimated by the social attitudes of abhorrence for commercial sex.

Stephens says, It's time to start treating women with respect and equality, regardless of their sexual behaviour. It's time to give people in the sex industry the same human rights as other citizens, so we can work together for safety, and call the police without fear of arrest. It's time to decriminalise prostitution.

London's Hackney business owners have criticised new proposals to restrict licences to sex shops and clubs.

As reported in the Citizen last month, Hackney Council is currently carrying out a consultation its new draft document on sex establishments, which introduces a nil policy such that new licences will not normally be granted and existing ones will be less likely to be renewed.

Some businesses are claiming that it will result in the closure of legitimate businesses during a recession and that it may force those employed in such businesses into unlicenced sex trade activity. Hackney currently has one licenced sex shop and four premises that are licenced to provide live performances or displays of nudity solely or mainly to sexually stimulate audience members. All but one of these are located in Shoreditch, which has many clubs and bars with late licences and a limited number of residential buildings.

Expectations, on Great Eastern Street, is Hackney's only licenced sex shop. It is open during normal business hours and does not have an explicit fascia. Yet, under the new policy, this business is under threat. Chris Graham-Bell, a director of the Millivres Prowler Group which owns Expectations, said: We are contesting the policy. It is stupid to lump sex shops and clubs together as we are completely different.

We have been going 30 years and until five years ago there was no question of us having a licence at all – we didn't need one. We chose to get a licence so we could stock R18 DVDs, we were not forced to get one. We have no objection to having a licence, or the council restricting the number of licences it gives out. If necessary, we will withdraw the sale of the DVDs.

Pauline Bristow, partner and licensee of the White Horse on Shoreditch High Street, has also voiced objections to the proposed policy. You cannot turn around and say we cause more problems than discos that open until 4am, she said. We are open from 12 noon until 12 midnight, we have a 1am license but we only use it in December.

A licensee for 25 years, Pauline has lived in Hackney for 32 years and has seen the borough change. The problem is, the council are thinking 'we are an up and coming area, we have all this stuff like the Olympics coming up, we don't want these sorts of places'.

If we have to close, 75 people will be out of work including bar staff, the girls and security. In Hackney overall we reckon it will be 300. It is not going to help the unemployment figures in Hackney, which the council considers a deprived borough. They will also lose money from the licences, about £5000 per venue. It's not going to help anything at all. Our livelihoods will be threatened.

There are fears that closing licenced establishments will not only lead to more unemployment, but may force the workers into more dangerous, unlicenced venues, some of which operate as brothels. This is a prospect Pauline is well aware of. If we close, there are a lot of unlicenced venues where the girls will be encouraged to do much more than dance, she said.

Have your say on licensing sex establishments in Hackney. The consultation runs until 13 December.

Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London
Friday 10th of December 10:30am - 12:30pm

On Friday the 10th of December GMB members will take to the street at Hackney Town Hall to protest a proposal that threatens 400 jobs.

Show your support by attending this protest!

Why: 400 jobs are at risk of closure because of the council's plan to adopt a nil policy on clubs that would put an end to the renewal of licenses. GMB members will demonstrate at Hackney Town Hall on Friday 10th December over Hackney Council proposal of a nil policy for strip venues and sex shops as they believe they no longer fit in with the character of the borough's town centres and neighbourhoods which will cost 400 jobs.

There are 4 strip venues and one sex shop in Hackney, most of these premises have been in business for over 30 years, and licensed by Hackney under the Sex Encounter Premises Act for over ten years. Hackney have already been licensing these businesses under strict rules and regulations for years. The consultation for this policy is closing on Monday 13th December and the protest to show opposition of GMB to this.

Hackney are concerned about the poverty and high unemployment levels in the Borough, yet by implementing this nil policy, they will be putting approximately 400 local people out of work

Thierry Schaffauser, president of the GMB sex workers and adult entertainment branch said: GMB adult entertainment branch is supporting its members working in Hackney adult venues. 400 jobs are at risk of closure because of the council's plan to adopt a 'nil policy' that would put an end to the renewal of licenses.

We are worried that the workers will be pushed to work in unlicensed venues or for private parties where they are more likely to be pressured to perform sexual acts they don't necessary want to do and where safety, exploitation and working conditions are much worse. Nudity has nothing degrading. What is degrading is bad working conditions and that's what the nil policy will create in Hackney.

Traditional East End strip pubs are well run and already subject to strict license and this is an sexist proposal. There is a huge hypocrisy of the female run, owned and staffed venues being targeted but the gay sex encounters venues in Shoreditch being exempt and unaffected by the 'nil' policy. So this makes the proposed policy nothing to do with morality or cleaning up the area and everything to do with attacking a woman's choice of work and means of earning money.

This is a very independent and creative business, unlike the larger; well know 'chain strip clubs'. To destroy this would be to ruin one of the great characteristics of Shoreditch that has directly fed into the music, arts, and performance scene in the area. We are pro-freedom and anti-censorship.

Adults chose to work in these pubs and chose to go to these pubs, nothing illegal is happening. Strippers are not victims and owners are not all wicked old men. All adults should be free to choose their employment and entertainment.

The Good Vicar of St Leonard's

A vicar is backing a campaign to keep open lapdancing clubs threatened by closure under licensing reforms.

The Rev Paul Turp of St Leonard's Church in Shoreditch has criticised Hackney council for attempting to impose a moral code on east London residents with proposals which could outlaw erotic dancing venues, sex shops and adult cinemas.

Rev Turp, an inspiration for the BBC comedy Rev starring Tom Hollander, has a parish which contains four long-established lapdancing bars — Browns, The White Horse, Rainbow Sports Bar and Ye Olde Axe as well as sex shop Expectations.

Threatened venues say more than 400 jobs are at risk and have been joined by Rev Turp, residents and other local businesses to oppose the proposals. A protest is planned for outside Hackney Town Hall next Friday.

Rev Turp said that although he does not frequent the establishments, he believes they should be allowed to keep operating as they are well regulated and cause far fewer social problems than alcohol or drugs. He said: I would prefer if it didn't happen, but Hackney council cannot impose a moral code on it citizens, it can only impose a criminal code. I've been here for 27 years and there have been no problems. They are not dodgy, back-street places where people are getting ripped off. They are well run and the council has done a good job at licensing them.

Outside Hackney town hall in east London a battle for the soul of Shoreditch is raging as an unlikely coalition of strippers, club owners and a vicar pit themselves against a range of mean minded women's groups and residents who are fighting to close down the area's strip pubs and a sex shop.

Around 30 erotic dancers, plus bar workers and strip club owners, marched on the town hall to protest against the council's proposal to operate a nil policy in the borough.

It was a good natured protest supported by 50 or more people. which wasn't too bad for a cold grey Friday morning. As is the joy of Hackney, a very wide range of people showed up to oppose this outrageous and unwise proposal.

Carrying a banner outside the town hall, Jennifer Richardson, a stripper at Browns, one of four clubs clustered around the Shoreditch area, said the clubs were a vital part of the borough's heritage. If we lose them, Hackney loses part of its character and its edge. These places are a seed bed for creativity in the area. Without them, it loses a lot of its individuality.

But nutter group, Object, argues that the clubs supposedly create a no-go area for women and foster an atmosphere of aggression that many find intimidating.

But the women protesting were furious that they could be seen as victims. They insisted there was solidarity between the strippers at the four Hackney clubs, the dancing happened on stage and a no-touching policy was strictly enforced. Although men did sometimes offer to pay more for private sexual activities, they could be politely rebuffed, or ejected from the establishments, they said. Loretta Landon was pragmatic about her job. Frankly, I think the men who come into the clubs are more objectified than we are, she said. Some of them might have these romantic fantasies about us, but to us they are just walking wallets.

Tensions between the two groups are running high. Edie, who did not want to jeopardise her day job by giving her real name, called Object a fanatical fright group. A stripper in Hackney for 12 years, she argued that she had felt more demeaned working as a PA in the City.

This is about prohibition and curtailing the rights of adults to decide what they want to do, she said. I am an adult and I don't want to have to justify myself to a bunch of childish hysterics on some kind of Victorian missionary quest to save the fallen. What about all the Hackney trannie bars and gay cabarets – will the moral police censure them?

The strippers and their clubs have found support from an unusual quarter. The vicar of the local St Leonard's church in Shoreditch has accused Hackney council of trying to impose a moral code on its residents, and argued that the area would be more dangerous if the clubs lost their licence. I've been here for 27 years and I remember the struggle to get these places licensed in the first place, he said. They were run by criminals, they were squalid – now they are well-run and brilliantly controlled. Why would we lose control of something that we worked so hard to get under control? The consequences of that worry me deeply.

Club owners argue that if the council pushes ahead, 400 jobs will be lost and girls women forced underground into more dangerous, unregulated situations.

Hackney Trades Union Council (TUC) passed a unanimous motion last week to take a public position against Hackney Council's proposed nil policy towards sex establishment licensing.

The union also resolved to support the application of model rules for venues set out by the GMB sex workers branch. The motion was proposed by John Page of the GMB union and amended by the performers union Equity.

Prior to the vote, a panel of guest speakers gave their views on the subject before the topic was put to the floor. Dr Kate Hardy from Leeds University has interviewed 200 dancers for a study on regulation within the lap-dancing industry.

Her research showed that many dancers had actively left a job to pursue a career in dancing, citing a high level of job satisfaction and flexible hours as benefits. High commission rates, a paucity of changing facilities and lack of information about unions and insurance were problems highlighted.

Hackney clubs in particular were singled out by the study as the type of well-run and regulated venues that dancers seek to work in. Suzanna Slack, an ex-dancer from the GMB , praised Hackney's venues, describing them as national treasures. She said: Men and women in these clubs are less likely to be extremely drunk because security is so tight. Unlike at corporate lap dancing clubs, they are renowned for respecting the dancers. I suggest paying these clubs a visit, the bar staff are women and they are women run.

A statement was read out from Reverend Paul Turp of St Leonard's Church, Shoreditch High Street, in which he expressed concern that a nil policy would bring back the bad old days' of seedy unlicensed venues.

Cllr Angus Mulready-Jones told the meeting that there are wide ranging views within the council. He said: I would like a system to protect workers, not the people who blush when they see what goes on in that industry. I do not feel we should be over critical just because it is near at school or church. Making a policy on that basis concerns me.

Edie, a dancer who worked in Browns, one of the venues concerned, for eight years, said: It was an incredible place to work. Commenting on the wider issues she said: There is no link between Hackney clubs and sex trafficking.

Cllr Carole Williams said: I would be minded to vote against it. My concern would be what would happen to the dancers if venues were unregulated. She added: There is a middle way to protect dancers and workers.

More than 2,700 people answered Hackney Council's questionnaire about their nil adult entertainment policy proposal,

The consultation ran from September 20 to December 13 last year and revealed a large majority of respondents opposing the council's 'nil' policy.

The results were:

• Supporting a ban on sex cinemas 26%, opposing the ban 66% (remainder said don't know)
• Supporting a ban on sex shops 19%, opposing the ban 75% (remainder said don't know)
• Supporting a ban on strip pubs and lap dancing 30%, opposing the ban 66% (remainder said don't know)

Those living in the vicinity of the existing strip pubs in Haggerston were even more opposed to the council's 'nil' policy.

Pressing ahead anyway?

See article from hackneycitizen.co.uk

Having considered the responses the consultation, the council is proposing to go ahead with the nil policy across the whole borough.

The council qualifies its stance by stating that:

Given the level of opposition to the 'nil' policy from some respondents and in recognition of the existing establishments that have operated in Haggerston for a considerable period of time it is suggested that these existing premises be treated as a special exception to the 'nil' in policy in Haggerston only.

Such exceptional circumstances will only be applied to the existing establishments if they can demonstrate that their premises islongstanding, well-run, and does not generate significant levels of concern among the community and/or statutory authorities.

Pauline Bristow, partner and licensee of the White Horse on Shoreditch High Street, said she is cautiously optimistic about the news:

We are quite pleased with the results of the survey, but we do feel that we still still be impeded in our renewal application. We feel that Hackney Council will impose some onerous conditions.

We felt that doing the survey might have promoted the voice of people who are against gentleman's venues and encouraged them to say 'we don't want them here'. I think the wording of the policy is very, very wrong, to call us sex establishments implies that sex is going on behind our doors. It should be exotic dancing venues, it is very misleading.

People know they have to behave themselves in these venues, they are not allowed to get away with what they are in normal clubs. Police reports show less problems from our venues than ordinary ones, so what is the problem? We are hopeful, but we are not holding our breath.

The report, which is to be reviewed by the licensing committee on 12 January before being put to full council on 26 January, also states that: While the proposed 'nil' policy may result in no further premises being opened, the policy does not require existing premises to close.

Update: Woeful disregard for resident's views

16th January 2011. See article from hackneyhive.co.uk

On Wednesday 12 January, the licensing Committee voted to approve a new nil policy on sex establishments. If approved by full council on 26 January, it means no new adult oriented businesses will be granted a license.

While residents of the borough spoke up against Hackney Council's proposed nil policy towards adult establishments within the borough, it appears the council already had their minds made up, so the decision to go ahead with putting forward a nil policy to full council was not a surprise to me.

...Read the full article

As expected, Hackney councillors have confirmed a ban on future strip clubs and sex shops from the borough, despite opposition from workers and residents.

All but two councillors in attendance at the town hall voted for an amended nil licensing policy on sex entertainment establishments.

Fewer than 30% of the people who took part in the council's own consultation on the plans supported the council's nil policy.

The decision means that strip clubs, sex shops and sex cinemas will be outlawed from all of Hackney's wards with the exception of well-run, longstanding establishments, after the licensing committee amended the proposals.

Hackney currently has four strip clubs: Ye Olde Axe, Browns, Rainbow Sports Bar and The White Horse along with sex shop Expectations, all of which are in Haggerston ward.

Hackney Central ward councillor Vincent Stopps welcomed the policy with a very self centred view. He said: I'm really happy to support this. Because of it, I'm going to get a lot less grief about strip clubs and bars opening in my ward so thank you very much.

Cllr Geoff Taylor of Victoria ward and Cllr Angus Mulready-Jones were the only councillors to vote against the policy.

Reverend Paul Turp has strongly criticised Hackney Council for attempting to impose a moral code on residents and visitors by outlawing lap dancing, sex shops and adult cinemas in the area.

Hackney council voted last week for what it called a nil policy, banning any new strip venues from opening. The policy was approved despite being supported by less than 30% of people who took part in a public consultation on the nil policy.

The policy derives from the 2010 Policing and Crime Act, which gives councils greater authority in the licensing of strip clubs. The policy alsodubiously removes sex establishments' rights of appeal if licence renewal is refused.

Reverend Turp, of St Leonard's Church in London's Shoreditch, said he was hugely disappointed with the decision, adding that it will push the business underground, resulting in more women working dangerously on the streets and will add to the people who turn to his church for help.

The clergyman, who provides refuge for 17 homeless people, as well as caring for alcoholics, addicts and prostitutes, said: The council have created a problem where there wasn't one to begin with. They deliberately disregarded the views of the people.

Bill Parry-Davies, a solicitor who is representing two of the existing clubs, said the local authority had abused its powers and plans further legal moves to challenge the ban: Hackney's policy seems ideologically driven, regardless of its consequences in the real world. It's regressive. People fought to protect women by introducing licensing. The courts will want to look very closely at a policy which seeks to deny a licensee's right of appeal and the courts' jurisdiction in such a manner.

Hackney councillor Emma Plouviez said that she thought the nil policy was the right thing to do: When we had the application for a new establishment it did provoke more opposition than anything else. That's where this policy came from: this policy wasn't dreamed up by a bunch of mad, rabid feminists.

Men in suits stand smoking outside on a sunny spring afternoon. A specials blackboard on the pavement says New girls.

This is what many people in Hackney see of the strip clubs at the centre of a political row in recent months.

Some will have ventured inside. But few will have met Denise Chandler, a rags-to-riches businesswoman and fiercely proud Hackney girl who has run Brown's in Hackney Road for more than 30 years.

This real East Ender has battled against the council's new nil policy on sex entertainment venues in the borough. And although the town hall went ahead anyway, she says she's here to stay.

...Read the full article