Agenda item

Proposed by: Councillor Driver

Seconded by: Councillor Regan

Given recent exposé reports in the press both national and international regarding the sex trade and exploitation of young women because of people smuggling and the sex trade in Cheltenham – this Council resolves to:-

1.    Work collaboratively with the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Childrens Board, Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre to develop a dedicated council strategy

2.    Investigate potential impact of licensed sex industry and other venues which might impact in four areas (vulnerable adults / young adults / children / people smuggling)

3.    Commit to re-invest funding from Cheltenham's night time economy into the fight against sexual exploitation and the sex trade in Cheltenham.

Councillor Wall left the meeting at 5.50pm.

Councillor Driver proposed the following motion which was seconded by Councillor Regan:

Given recent exposé reports in the press both national and international regarding the sex trade and exploitation of young women because of people smuggling and the sex trade in Cheltenham – this Council resolves to:-

1.    Work collaboratively with the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Childrens Board, Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre to develop a dedicated council strategy

2.    Investigate potential impact of licensed sex industry and other venues which might impact in four areas (vulnerable adults / young adults / children / people smuggling)

3.    Commit to re-invest funding from Cheltenham's night time economy into the fight against sexual exploitation

In introducing the motion, Councillor Driver suggested that the council needed to give more thought to the night-time economy. There was much said about what it did for Cheltenham but in her view all it did was make a mess on the streets and provide profits to a corporate company elsewhere. She acknowledged that the police and other organisations had done a lot to try and combat the sex trade and exploitation and the council had also done their bit, but there was a necessity for all organisations to work together. They needed to be particularly aware of vulnerable and neglected young people, possibly with learning difficulties, as she felt a lot of them were being missed.

Members were generally supportive of the sentiments behind the motion and that protection of vulnerable young people must be a priority.  If there were issues in Cheltenham then they needed to be addressed and this should be in partnership with other organisations. This kind of activity was an abomination and must be treated very seriously not least because it was hidden under the surface. Some members referred to a recent Channel 4 documentary which had featured a raid in the town on a property were young women were being trafficked. One member did point out that Cheltenham had been featured in the documentary as a typical town to highlight that even a respectable place like Cheltenham could have these problems. Another member highlighted the coverage in the Daily Mail during race week about the sex trade in the town. There may be an opportunity for the Borough Council to take a more proactive stance and there was a need to make members and officers more aware of what was being done and how to report any cases or suspicions.

Although members supported the general thrust of the motion, there were some concerns about the precise wording and resolutions. There were some doubts expressed about whether it would be legitimate to use the revenue from the night-time economy for this purpose as there were strict regulations concerning its use. The night-time economy also employed a lot of people in Cheltenham and therefore did bring benefits to the town. It was also important to distinguish between the licensed sex industry and the criminal offence of exploitation for sexual purposes. The latter was certainly not an ‘industry’. The proposal that the council should produce its own strategy was challenged as progress could only be made by working in partnership with other organisations, particularly the police.

Councillor Garnham, as chairman of the Police Authority, acknowledged that there was a problem in Cheltenham but there was a need to be careful about the facts. He updated members on the Pentameter operation carried out by the police in 2008 to address this issue which had been featured in the Channel 4 documentary. As a result there had been 150 arrests and three of those had been in Cheltenham. The initiative in Gloucestershire was seen as an example of good practice. He explained that the Detective Inspector heading up the Public Protection Bureau was already working in this area and should be a point of contact for the council if they wanted to pursue it.

Councillor Barnes and Councillor Seacome, as previous and current chair of the Council's Licensing Committee, highlighted that people trafficking was not operating within the licensed trade but was undercover and unacceptable. The Licensing Committee had made every effort to ensure that establishments were properly licensed and indeed an establishment not operating within its licence had been closed down during the last race week. The council should not be complacent but they were reasonably confident that the officers and police involved in licensing were ensuring that establishments were being operated within the legal framework. The council had only licensed one sex shop in the last 10 years for the intention of selling adult videos. Lap dancing and other similar venues typically applied for a Temporary Event Notice which allowed them to operate for a limited period such as race week. They were then closed down once the notice expired.

As the County Cabinet Member responsible for this area, Councillor McLain advised that he received regular reports on this issue. He highlighted the work already being done by the safeguarding boards and suggested that the council may want to hear more about the potential projects that they could suggest. The council may wish to see whether it could make better use of the wealth of information held by Cheltenham Borough Homes in addressing the trafficking issue. Finally a considerable amount of research had been done into the links with the licensed sex industry and this was available on the intranet.

During the debate it had been suggested that the matter be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the option of setting up a scrutiny task group which would report back to Council. Councillor Smith, as chair of the committee, suggested it would need a period of at least six months to carry out a review and therefore a report back to Council in December will be appropriate. The O&S committee could initiate the task group at its next meeting on 16 July 2012.

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety supported the sentiment of the motion and clearly if there were issues they needed to be addressed.  As a safeguarding organisation the council was already taking some action and he would welcome the support of a working group to look at this in more detail.

In her summing up, Councillor Driver was delighted that the motion had prompted a good debate on this issue.

Upon a vote the motion was CARRIED unanimously and it was also

Resolved that the matter be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to set up a working group to review the issue and report back to Council in December 2012.