The public is to be asked its views on the licensing of sex entertainment venues in the Highlands.
Members of the Highland licensing committee agreed to officers’ recommendations that a public consultation should take place to inform the decision on whether to license these venues.
Local authorities were granted discretionary power to license sex entertainment venues (SEVs) in the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015.
Highland Council officers stressed that licensing was not mandatory, but if members decide against licensing SEVs, they can still trade unregulated.
Licensing the venues could therefore help to safeguard vulnerable adults.
There is currently only one SEV in the Highlands – Private Eyes Gentleman’s Club in Inverness.
Opening the discussion, chairman Andrew Jarvie said he “struggled to justify an additional layer of bureaucracy” for only one venue of this kind in Highland.
However, councillor Jarvie also acknowledged that members needed to “think to the future” about potential new applications.
What about ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines?
Members were in agreement that licensing SEVs could provide some level of control against exploitation and crime.
Councillor Jarvie said: “I am interested to see what would come from the consultation, particularly from the police and women’s charities who deal with this very often.”
Other members of the committee went a step further, calling for the consultation to be widened to include other licensed venues.
Councillor Duncan Macpherson said that many vulnerable people were falling foul of addictive gambling sites.
He said: “I think we should be also looking as a licensing committee to do a consultation on gambling establishments.
“The only licensing which takes place by the UK Government is that they’re restricted to three gambling machines, which have been described by people in the protective world as the ‘crack cocaine’ of gambling machines.”
Councillor John Bruce added that tighter controls on tattoo parlours should also feature in the consultation, to prevent the spread of infections by “unscrupulous tattoo artists”.
Eye to the future
It was pointed out to the committee that gambling establishments and tattoo parlours are both already licensed, and members were asked to stick to the subject of the report.
Councillor Liz Macdonald stated that a public consultation would help the council to be prepared for any applications going forward.
The committee then agreed to move to public consultation. This will begin on August 17 and run for six weeks.
Views will be invited from the public and also key groups including Police Scotland, Violence against Women Partnerships and healthcare and community representatives.
The licensing committee will decide whether to license SEVs at their meeting on October 26.