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  3. Home
  4. Business
  5. Licences, permits and registrations
  6. Sex establishments
  7. Sex establishment policy

Stay safe in very hot weather

Very hot weather is expected for the next few days. A red heat-health alert (the highest level) is in place for London on Wednesday and Thursday.  

Hot weather can be dangerous and can cause serious illness. Stay safe and look out for others who may be particularly vulnerable to the heat. Read advice on GOV.UK

Cool spaces

There are local cool spaces that are free and open to everyone. Visit them to rest, drink water and stay cool. Find a cool space near you

Access Islington hubs 

North and South Access Islington hubs are closed due to the hot weather. The Central Hub is open for urgent, in-person support, until 4pm today (Wednesday 24 June) but avoid travelling unless it is essential. 

You can still access our services online and you can call us on 020 7527 2000 if you need to speak to someone. 

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Sex establishment policy

This policy sets out our proposed approach to regulating sex establishments and the procedure that we will adopt in relation to applications for sex establishment licences.

  1. Overview
  2. Limits on the number of premises
  3. Location of premises
  1. Impact
  2. Applicants
  3. Premises appearance and layout

Limits on the number of licensed premises

We have determined that there are a sufficient number of sex shops, sex cinemas and sexual entertainment venues currently operating in the borough and we do not want to see an increase in the numbers of premises that are currently providing these activities.

We have adopted a policy to limit the number of sexual entertainment venues in the borough to ‘nil’; however we recognise that there are a number of businesses that have been providing sexual entertainment in Islington for several years.

As a result, we will not apply this limitation when considering renewal applications for premises that were trading prior to 1 April 2011 with express permission for the type of entertainment which is now defined as sexual entertainment, if they can continue to demonstrate:

  • high standards of management
  • a management structure and capacity to operate the venue 
  • the ability to adhere to the standard conditions for sex establishments.

We will consider each application on its merit although new applicants will have to demonstrate why we should depart from the ‘nil’ policy.

Furthermore, if any of the existing premises cease trading there is no presumption that we will consider any new applications more favourably.

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