Licensing of Sex Establishments

Local authorities are enabled by Section 2 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 to adopt national licensing controls for sex establishments. If you run a sex cinema or sex shop, you may need a licence from the Council. You may also apply to the council for the requirement for a licence to be waived. You must comply with any conditions attached to a licence.Persons  wishing to make representations about an application you may do so to the district council. The representations should reach the district council no later than 28 days after the date of the application. We advise that you contact us to first discuss your concerns so that you may be appropriately advised.

Currently there are no licensed sex establishments in the area.

Licence applications will be refused under the following circumstances:

if the applicant is under 18 years of age

the applicant is disqualified for 12 months from holding a licence after a previous licence was revoked

the applicant, if not a limited company, is not resident in the UK or has not been resident for at least six months prior to the application

-if the applicant is a company, they are not incorporated in the UK

-if the applicant has been refused an application within the previous 12 months

Other grounds on which a district council can refuse an application are:

-the applicant is unsuitable through being convicted of an offence, or through another reason

-if the licence was granted the business would be carried on for the benefit of another person who would be refused a licence

-the grant or renewal of a licence would not be appropriate taking into account the character of the area, the use of the premises and the layout, condition and character of the premises, vehicle, vessel or stall to which the application relates

The legislation allows a right of appeal against refusal to the courts.

Application fee

The present application fee (April 2010 to March 2011) is £4765.00.

An application form can be downloaded here (Pdf document size 105 KB).

The accompanying application notes can be downloaded here (Pdf document size 70 KB).

You can also apply online (national Business Link site).

Alternatively you may wish to contact Customer Services for an application form and accompanying notes. Our full contact details are on the Licensing main page).