Edinburgh council urged by Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba to reverse ban on strip clubs

A Labour MSP has written to her party colleagues on Edinburgh council, urging them to reverse the ban on strip clubs.

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Mercedes Villalba, who is Shadow Minister for Environment and Biodiversity in the Scottish Parliament, said the ban would put more than 100 women out of work and could mean they end up working in unregulated venues where their safety is at greater risk.

In one of the last decisions before the local elections last month, the council’s regulatory committee voted by five to four to set a “nil” cap on the number of sexual entertainment venues (SEVs) which would be allowed in the Capital under a new licensing scheme.

It was Labour’s Joan Griffiths who proposed the ban, arguing it was in line with the council’s policy on an “equally safe” city.

There are currently four strip clubs in Edinburgh. The ban is due to come into force in April 2023.

In her letter to Edinburgh’s Labour councillors, Ms Villalba, an MSP for North East Scotland, called for a rethink. She said: "The decision to implement a nil-cap will result in over 100 workers, the vast majority of whom are women, being forced into unemployment. They may also now end up having to choose to work in unlicensed and unregulated venues without the protection of CCTV and security, putting their safety at increased risk.

“I am also concerned that the council has chosen to go ahead with a nil-cap without putting in place support for affected workers to enter new, well-paid and secure employment which enables them to attend to other responsibilities such as childcare and to survive the worsening cost of living crisis. I understand that the council has pledged to create just a single role to support affected workers which I do not believe goes remotely far enough given that a nil-cap will leave over 100 workers unemployed.

The city council has set a "nil cap" on sexual entertainment venues, effectively banning strip clubs in the Capital. Picture: Tony Marsh.

“Rather than imposing a nil-cap on licences, the council should work with those affected and their trade union to set conditions for licences such as enforcing worker status, guaranteeing safe workplaces, and mandating trade union recognition and collective bargaining rights. With this in mind I hope you will reconsider the decision to introduce a nil-cap and to pursue an approach to licensing SEVs which puts workers’ rights at its core.”

Last week the Evening News revealed the United Sex Workers union had launched a fundraising campaign for £20,000 to fund a legal battle against the ban. It claims the council’s decision violates workers' rights at a time of severe economic crisis.

The union says it plans to challenge the compatibility of the nil cap with the 2010 Equality Act and is confident it will win. And it hopes if Edinburgh council is forced to back down, local authorities across Britain planning to set a nil-cap will have to reverse their decision.

Venues can still apply to the council for a licence despite the nil cap, but the application would be considered in the light of the authority’s agreed policy.