Sex Establishments Licensing Policy

We asked business/organisations, town/parish councillors and members of the public for their views on our joint licensing policy for sex establishments in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse. The original policy, which was introduced in 2011, was due a review and update. The proposed policy included updates to legislation and expansion to various sections to provide further detail and to add more clarity. 

• 3 completed responses were received to this consultation. All feedback (100%) was received from district, county or town/parish councillors. 

•  67% of respondents which is the equivalent of 2 respondents disagree with the proposed Sex Establishments Policy, whilst 33% (1 respondent) expressed agreement. The respondents disagreed with the section of the policy in which the council determined that ‘nil’ is an appropriate number of licences to be granted in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse. 

The council responded to the feedback to explain that a nil policy is an early indication to an applicant that having taken into account the local factors, the nature of our market towns and surrounding areas (for example as family friendly, tourist or heritage areas), that the council has determined that ‘nil’ is an appropriate number of licences that may be granted. However, having a nil policy does not mean the council can reject the submission of an application out of hand. All applications will still need to be determined on their own merits, having regard to the criteria set out within the policy. If an applicant makes a valid application and provides all of the documentation set out in the policy, it will then be up to the licensing panel to determine it in line with that policy taking into account factors such as the character of the locality, the use of other premises in the vicinity and the layout and character of the proposed premises. 

The results of the consultation were presented to the council’s General Licensing Committees in July 2025. The Committees considered results of the consultation including the qualitative comments and approved the proposed policy to take effect from 1 August 2025. You can read the comments received in our consultation summary report.