20 January 2006
Proposed reforms to the prostitution laws were greeted with dismay by one council after ministers ruled out 'managed zones' for prostitutes.
Liverpool City Council secured community and professional support for a defined area for the city's sex workers. But the Home Office's prostitution strategy, published on January 17, favoured tougher action against 'pimps' and 'punters'.
Flo Clucas, Liverpool's executive member for housing, social care and health, said: 'Prostitution is not acceptable, but we have to recognise that it is simply not going to go away. I am concerned that the police simply will not have the resources to sustain a crackdown on kerb-crawlers.'
But Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart said the government had to address the problems facing those who lived in or near red-light areas.
There was a qualified welcome from the Local Government Association. Senior policy officer Trish O'Flynn told Public Finance: 'We were disappointed that soliciting wasn't abolished as a criminal conviction. A conviction… can make it very hard for women who want to leave prostitution.'
PFjan2006
