Council crackdown on sub-standard hotels

Councils across England are being urged to crack down on sub-standard hotels, guest houses and B&Bs after the launch of a new Government initiative.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Local Government Association today issued a guide for local authorities aimed at helping them "to tackle the damage done to the country's tourism industry by poor standards of hygiene."

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Caborn: shutdown threat

The Fitness for Purpose guide covers legal minimum requirements for health & safety, food hygiene, fire safety and trading standards, as well as advice on handling complaints. Rather than adding extra red tape, the Government claims the initiative should make it easier and less costly for businesses to comply with the regulations. Tourism minister Richard Caborn said: "Government and industry are driving forward an ambitious programme to make tourism a £100b-a-year industry by 2010. "There is no place in this for sub-standard accommodation. Those who let the side down must either get their act together or risk being shut down." The launch of Fitness for Purpose follows trials in six local authorities in 2003-04. Copies of the guide will be available on both the DCMS and LGA websites (see links, above right). Buy this week's *Caterer* magazine for more industry news and analysis