Judge Lord Richardson ruled that an Edinburgh City Council decision to stop awarding licences for adult venues - the so called nil cap - was unlawful.

The decision, made by the city’s regulatory committee, was a knife-edge five to four vote in favour of setting the cap at zero. Councillors had the option of setting the cap at four, keeping all the clubs open, but this was rejected.

The Herald reported, Rosie Walker, partner and head of litigation at Gilson Gray, who acted for the United Sex Workers (USW) along with Counsel David Welsh throughout its legal challenge, saying: 

“This is a fantastic and very well-deserved result. I am delighted for the USW and all its members. They were incredibly brave to take on this fight to protect their livelihoods and were determined to see it through despite the many challenges put in their way. 

“City of Edinburgh Council tried very hard to prevent USW from joining the action and attempted to block the Protective Expenses Order granted by the court. However, at the end of the day, the court has agreed with our argument that the nil-cap was unlawful and the Council will now have to look at the decision again.

“If it had been upheld, the Council’s nil-cap decision would have resulted in the closure of all strip clubs in the city. That would have meant many of USW’s members losing their livelihoods or having to move away from their homes and families to find work elsewhere.  

“The Court held that the Council’s Regulatory Committee wrongly determined the effect of the nil-cap and this rendered its decision unlawful. City of Edinburgh Council also argued that our challenge was premature because, after proceedings were raised, the Council voted to present a fresh report to the Regulatory Committee on the nil cap policy.

“The Court also held that the Council’s prematurity argument was not well founded and that our challenge could proceed, which is a highly positive decision for USW and its members.”

A USW spokesperson said:

“The council’s nil-cap decision, if upheld, would have resulted in the closure of all strip clubs in the city. This would have meant many of our members losing their livelihoods or having to move away from their homes and families to find work elsewhere.

“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 the Britain.”

The Scotsman reported that Lord Richardson concluded that the council had received wrong legal advice before adopting the policy. He said the council’s belief that it could still award licences to venues on a discretionary basis was incorrect. He concluded that the decision meant that adult venues in Edinburgh Would be banned.