Scottish Government

1. Introduction

The Employment Research Institute at Napier University was commissioned by the Scottish Executive to conduct a study into the economic impact of 'Adult Entertainment' in Scotland, defined for the purpose of this study as lap dancing and strip bars and clubs. This Section outlines the objects and methodology of the research and an outline of the report.

The study focuses on determining the type of economic impacts resulting from the Adult Entertainment ( AE) industry on each of the four main city economies - Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, and where possible quantifies these impacts. In particular it seeks to determine the nature of both positive and negative impacts. The report broadly considers the following aspects of the economic impacts of AE establishments:

• Determine the economic benefits generated to businesses, residents and more widely from the presence of the AE industry at both a city and local (neighbourhood) level
• Determine any negative economic impacts on residents and businesses and the nature of these impacts
• Where possible quantify the economic impacts.

It does this for the present location and three scenarios: zoning; dispersing; or closing down the sites where 'adult entertainment' takes place.

The context for the research is that the Licensing (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in February 2005, contains powers to prescribe measures for the regulation of 'adult entertainment' on licensed premises. The Scottish Executive Adult Entertainment Working Group ( AEWG) is overseeing a range of research exploring the wider impacts of the adult entertainment industry in Scotland ². The AEWG identified a need to identify the range, extent and location of AE provision, the attitudes and experience of the public and the social and economic impact of activities. The proposed study aims to focus on the economic impact, specifically to examine the impact of the current situation and a number of alternative policy options. While there exists anecdotal evidence on the impacts of AE activities, there is an acknowledged lack of systematic research into the economic impacts within Scotland.

Definition

The AEWG is still in the process of identifying all the relevant activities that may fall under the definition of 'adult entertainment'. The current working definition used is:

"Live sexual entertainment services with an intention to sexually titillate, and/or that a reasonable person, acting reasonably, would assume that there was such an intention."

Lap, or table, dancing is cited by Jones as 'the term used to refer to personalised striptease dancing in which dancers take off their clothes in a provocative manner for individuals, or small groups of customers" (Jones et al., 2003 pp 215)

In this study the AE industry is taken to be establishments concentrating on lap dancing and strip clubs.

Methodology

The core research was conducted through a series of in-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews with Adult Entertainment businesses, workers and other key stakeholders and various professional bodies. The main steps in the project were:

1. A short search of secondary data sources including publications by the Scottish Executive, press releases, studies into the AE industry, employment data etc. Confirmation of the list of established AE venues in the four cities in Scotland.

2. Interviews (face-to-face and telephone) were carried out with the following groups mainly over six weeks in October/November 2005 (see Acknowledgements for a full list):

Owner/managers of AE establishments. Owners of 8 AE establishments were interviewed, plus a manager from one of these establishments.

Workers from AE establishments. Four dancers were interviewed, with combined experience of work in all four cities.

A small sample of neighbouring establishments - to determine the impacts of the current AE industry and possible scenarios. In total 8 businesses in Edinburgh and 2 in Glasgow were interviewed.

Local authorities - planning and/or economic development, regarding benefits, disadvantages and policies for zoning, dispersing or removing establishments. We interviewed four economic development professionals.

Licensing boards/committees - information on policy, preferences and reasons for licensing decisions, applications and decisions. We interviewed representatives from four licensing boards.

Police forces - to determine crime statistics and other factors associated with AE sites. Lothian and Borders, Strathclyde and Tayside police forces were interviewed, and additional information requested from Lothian and Borders Force Information Unit.

Local Assessors, Solicitor Property Centres - to determine effects of AE sites on commercial and residential property values. We interviewed representatives from Valuation Joint Boards covering all 4 cities, plus ESPC, GSPC and TSPC.

Local Chambers of Commerce and Federation of Small Business - to obtain business perspectives on the location of AE establishments. Three representatives from the Federation of Small Businesses covering East, North and West Scotland were interviewed, plus Edinburgh and Glasgow Chambers of Commerce.

Visit Scotland - to seek views on the impact of the AE industry on tourist visits to Scotland. We interviewed two representatives from Visit Scotland - one from Scenario Planning, the other from Research.

GMB Trades Union for workers in the AE industry. Despite our best efforts we were unable to contact the representative from the International union of Sex Workers - the relevant organisation within the GMB.

3. Finally the findings were synthesised and analysed. Given the timescales and resources, and the willingness of AE owners to provide data, the report could not generate fully detailed quantitative figures, but rather an indication of the likely impacts in the four main cities. Due to confidentiality reasons (there is only one AE establishment currently operating in Dundee), the Aberdeen and Dundee impacts are combined.

Industry workers were sampled mainly through contacts provided by club owners and managers. This was the only way to realistically obtain access in most cases. Interviews were generally conducted on the premises without the presence of the owner or manager. he full list of interview questionnaires is given in Appendix 7.

Outline of the report

The reminder of the report is as follows.

Section 2: A review of literature on the location and impact of the AE industry

Section 3: Examination of business location of Adult Entertainment Establishments

Section 4: Identification of the costs and benefits associated with the industry, in individual cities and Scotland as a whole

Section 5: Economic pros and cons of the AE industry

Section 6: Estimation of the economic impact of zoning, dispersing or closing down AE sites

Section 7: Estimation of the impact of the above policies on the 'black economy' and other sections of the economy

Section 8: Conclusions.

The methodology was designed to meet the objectives of the report as outlined below.

Table 1.1 Summary of methodology