‘Dodging issue’ MP urged to address strip club loophole
THERE are calls for Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk to have a “factbased” dialogue over the legal exemption which allows pop-up strip clubs to operate in the spa town.
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has long opposed sexual entertainment venues (SEVS).
And the Conservative
MP has called on Cheltenham Borough Council to ban them as such venues “harm businesses and attract antisocial behaviour”. He says the council has the power to reject licensing applications for a SEV.
But the borough council says if it were to do so, SEV operators would use a legal exemption which allows them to set up pop-up strip clubs at a venue once a month as many as 11 times a year providing they last no longer than 24 hours at a time.
Vikki Lax, pictured, a resident who has long campaigned for more to be done to improve the safety of women and girls in the town, claims the MP is refusing to address the “frequency exemption”, which is a crucial consideration regarding lap dancing venues in Cheltenham.
The MP claims the borough council could change its licensing guidance to ensure the pop-up SEVS are regulated.
But licensing chiefs at the Municipal Offices say they cannot as they would be “overriding the will of Parliament”.
Mrs Lax said legislation has allowed lap dancing events, subject to frequency and duration criteria, to proceed without a licence or any regulation since 2009.
“In practical terms this means if Cheltenham licensing committee refused a licence it is likely that unregulated lap dancing would continue regardless. This is considered by the committee to be higher risk. “Concerns regarding the impact of the exemption have been raised with Mr Chalk for a number of years, I have been in conversation with him since last year. We all still await an answer.
“Mr Chalk and the Government have the power to amend this legislation, but he seems to prefer blaming his local political opponents rather than advocating for change. “Mr Chalk committed to take action if I demonstrated the exemption had unintended consequences.
“The case has been presented yet he continues to dodge the issue. Whatever your view on lap dancing clubs, we all deserve an honest, fact-based dialogue regarding the legislative framework and its impact.
“Mr Chalk’s refusal to do this whilst obfuscating is, I believe, disingenuous and should concern us all.”
A spokesman for Mr Chalk said such licensing applications can be blocked by the council and other local authorities in the UK have done so.
“Cheltenham Borough Council have the power to block SEVS in Cheltenham, as the council’s own guidance makes clear. Other councils in the UK have banned them, and CBC should too.”