Sexual Entertainment Venues

The Council will regulate 'sexual entertainment venues' from the 4th of April 2011.

On 24th February 2011 Cheshire East Borough Council resolved that the provisions of Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (‘the 1982 Act’), as amended by section 27 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, be adopted and shall apply within the Borough of Cheshire East with effect from 4th April 2011.

The provisions of Schedule 3 of the 1982 Act relate to the licensing of sex establishments. The effect of the resolution will be to provide the Council with additional powers to regulate ‘sexual entertainment venues’. A ‘sexual entertainment venue’ for the purposes of the 1982 Act is “any premises at which relevant entertainment is provided before an audience for the financial gain of the organiser or the entertainer.” ‘Relevant entertainment’ means “any live performance or any live display of nudity which is of such a nature that, ignoring financial gain, it must reasonably be assumed solely or principally for the purpose of sexually stimulating any member of the audience (whether by verbal or other means).”

Paragraph 2A(3) of Schedule 3 sets out those premises that are not sexual entertainment venues. These are:

Sex shops and sex cinemas (which are separately defined in Schedule 3);
Premises which provide relevant entertainment on an infrequent basis. These are defined as premises where:
- (a) no relevant entertainment has been provided on more than 11 occasions within a 12 month period;
- (b) no such occasion has begun within a period of one month beginning with the end of the previous occasions; and
- (c) no such occasion has lasted longer than 24 hours;
Other premises or types of performances or displays exempted by an order of the Secretary of State.

Transitional provisions

The resolution will come into force within the Borough on 4th April 2011, to be known as the ‘first appointed day,’ which marks the start of a twelve month transitional period. Six months following the first appointed day will be known as the ‘second appointed day’ and the day on which the transitional period ends will be known as the ‘third appointed day.’

Existing operators who, immediately before the first appointed day, have a licence under the Licensing Act 2003 and lawfully use premises as a sexual entertainment venue under that licence or are undertaking preparatory work to use the venue in that way will be allowed to continue to provide relevant entertainment until the third appointed day or the determination of any application they have submitted before that time (including any appeal against the refusal to grant a licence), whichever is later.

After the first appointed day new applicants will not be able to operate as a sexual entertainment venue until they have been granted a sexual entertainment venue licence.

Applicants will be able to submit their application for a sexual entertainment venue from the first appointed day onwards. All applications made on or after the first appointed day but on or before the second appointed day shall be considered together. No applications shall be determined before the second appointed day. After the second appointed day the Council will determine the applications. If a new applicant is granted a licence it will take effect immediately. If an existing operator is granted a licence, it will not take effect until the third appointed day, up to which point they will be allowed to continue to operate under their existing premises licence or club premises certificate.

Applications made after the second appointed day shall be considered when they are made but only once all applications made on or before that date have been determined.

Applications

Applications for licences to operate sexual entertainment venues within the Borough of Cheshire East may be made from 4^th April 2011 onwards (see above in relation to transitional provisions). Applications must be made on the Council’s prescribed form (a copy of which is available from clicking on the link below).

The following must be submitted with the completed application form in order to form a valid application:

a scale plan of the premises which should be large enough to be easily read (which must show the layout of the Premises including: (i) performer’s changing facilities; (ii) those areas to which the public are to be admitted (shown outlined in red); (iii) toilets; (iv) entrances and exits from the premises (including emergency exits); (v) any stage area (including an annotation as to the height of the stage); (vi) the location of any fixed structures (such as the bar area, fixed tables/seating or private booths); the area to be used for customer seating);
the licence fee;
a copy of the completed notice to be displayed on the Premises;
a basic CRB disclosure from the applicant (including each of the directors/the company secretary where the applicant is a company and each of the partners if the applicant is a partnership) [disclosures may be obtained from Disclosures Scotland at disclosurescotland.co.uk
a copy of the management operation manual and club rules (see condition 16 of the conditions).

A copy of the application must also be served on the Chief Officer of Police and advertising in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 3 of the 1982 Act. Further information in relation to these requirements is provided within the Council’s policy on the licensing of sexual entertainment venues a copy of which is available via the link below:

Fees

The fees in relation to applications for sexual entertainment venues are as follows:

First application: £2,280
Renewal application: £1,140
Variation application: £2,280
Transfer application: £500

Right of appeal

In cases where the Council refuses an application for the grant, renewal or transfer of a Sexual Entertainment Venue licence, the applicant may appeal the decision to the Magistrates' Court within 21 days (of the date when the applicant is notified of the decision), unless:

the application was refused under the grounds in paragraph 12(3)(c) or (d) in which case the applicant can only challenge the refusal by way of judicial review; or
the application was refused on any of the grounds specified in paragraph 12(1) of Schedule 3 of the 1982 Act , in which case the applicant shall not have a right of appeal unless he seeks to show that the ground did not apply to him.

Further information

Additional information is contained within the Home Office Guidance on Sexual Entertainment Venues (PDF, 137KB).

Further queries may be made of the Licensing Section by writing to the postal address below or by e-mailing licensing@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Licensing Section
Cheshire East Borough Council
Westfields
Middlewich Road
Sandbach
Cheshire
CW11 1HZ