NUM Statement on the Judicial Review for SEVs in Edinburgh
10 February 2023

We are delighted to hear that the judicial review of the proposed nil-cap policy in Edinburgh has been successful. This decision will ensure that sex workers can continue to have safer places of work, and will not lose their jobs in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

We would like to thank United Sex Workers for their tireless work on this campaign, which allowed this review to take place. It is disappointing that Edinburgh City Council has attempted to impose unworkable limitations on their ability to participate in the review process throughout, and thank all those who ensured that sex workers could be heard fairly and safely regarding the issues affecting their lives and livelihoods.

USW has said: “Not only is this a huge win for strippers in Edinburgh, who are no longer facing the prospect of forced mass-unemployment in the middle of a recession, but for the working rights of strippers across Britain. Nil-caps are a violent, anti-worker policy that removes strippers’ access to safe workplaces, workers rights and their ability to improve their own working conditions. Now they have been found unlawful, we hope this puts an end to local council’s imposing strip club bans and closing down our places of work, for good.”

SEVs provide performers with an opportunity to work and earn an income in a safe and regulated environment, to effectively unionise, and to assert their rights as workers. We are pleased that these will not be taken away from sex workers in Edinburgh, and that they will not be forced into more dangerous, vulnerable and precarious forms of sex work as a result.

This decision sets a precedent for other authorities who may consider imposing nil-cap policies, demonstrating their potential breaches of human rights and equality laws. It also follows Bristol City Council’s decision earlier this year to reject a nil-cap policy.