Announcements

“Report shows the way to sweep away so much of the red tape that frustrates so many businesses,” – Ufi Ibrahim

Amendments to visa controls so that Britain is a more welcoming destination for visitors, greater recognition of tourism in the planning process and reform of the fire safety and health and safety regulations are among the 80-plus proposals that the Tourism Regulation Taskforce, under the chairmanship of Alan Parker CBE, president of the British Hospitality Association, has submitted to the Tourism Minister, John Penrose MP.

In the report – Smart Regulation and Economic Growth: Seizing the Tourism Opportunity – which is now being considered by government and which the Taskforce will follow up with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Mr Parker says that removing unnecessary red tape is only part of the tourism growth opportunity, “but it’s a vital one.”

“Too often regulations introduced by one government department conflict with those of another department that also has an interest in the industry.

“Feedback to the Taskforce indicated that regulators rarely understood the difficulties that small independent businesses faced when implementing complex new regulations.  Nor is the cost of implementation appreciated.”

The report, which was compiled by a number of businesses, associations and organisations under Mr Parker, points out that the overwhelming majority of businesses in tourism and hospitality are SMEs and micro businesses – “the lifeblood of the economy” – but that one of the greatest problems was the cumulative effect of regulation particularly on them.

“Bold policy actions would free larger companies to allocate resources more efficiently while they could represent a make or break solution solution for many smaller businesses,” says Mr Parker.  “The removal of unnecessary red tape in the industry would also make a real difference to the country’s economic recovery.”

One of the Taskforce’s principal recommendations is to establish a cross-Cabinet committee in order to coordinate government policies affecting the industry

“In this way, government departments would be able to acquire a much deeper appreciation of the overall impact of proposed regulations on every business in the industry and how we could create further growth and job opportunities”

On visas, the report says that visa restrictions directly impact visitor numbers.

“Comparison of the UK visa application process with those of other western nations highlights a number of areas where the UK process is less attractive,” it says.

These areas include cost (including the cost of transit visas and Direct Airside Transit Visas,) and documentary requirements.

The Taskforce proposes that visa requirements for tourists should be lifted as part of the visa waiver test process.  It also seeks a guaranteed processing time and wants to reduce the requirements for supporting documents as well as abolishing the Direct Airside Transit Visa.  It urges government to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to visa pricing and a risk-based approach to the validity period structure for visas.

On planning, the Taskforce says that the system of obtaining planning permission to develop or expand a tourism business is “too slow, too complex, too expensive and too hard to predict.”

It wants tourism to be included in the emerging National Planning Policy Framework, a streamlining of procedures for planning permission, and amendments to Change of Use orders that allow for greater innovation in response to changing trading conditions.

On fire safety, the Taskforce wants clear and consistent national guidance.

“Particular problems have arisen often due to inspections by fire officers  with no national consistency of approach.

“The cost for businesses required to make changes following the visit of a fire officer can be huge and are disproportionate to the problem, and there appears to be no protocol to suggest that premises with a history of compliance are subject to fewer inspections.”

On health and safety, the Taskforce says that it wants to focus on actions that will minimise the time and cost of risk assessments, including unnecessary duplication of such assessments.

“Local authority regulators should follow the lead of the HSE and the risk-based approach which it has taken to regulation.  This, however, needs to be undertaken on a nationwide basis as all too often interpretation is left to local discretion.  This causes confusion, variable practice from place to place and no common approach or standard of implementation.”

Other areas in which the Taskforce proposes significant changes include package travel regulations and money laundering, employment regulations, age discrimination provisions, and aspects of licensing.

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, said that the report was a reflection of the industry’s mounting concern about the cost of unnecessary regulations in terms of cost, lost opportunities and lost jobs.

“The hospitality industry submitted a raft of proposals in 2000 to the Better Regulation Taskforce and few, if any, were implemented and The Task Force’s impact was minimal,” she said.

She believed that this time was different. The Prime Minister had emphasised that a regulation should go, unless there was a clear and good justification for government being involved – and even when there was a good case for this, the prime minister had said unnecessary bureaucracy and complexity, and gold-plating of EU directives should be “swept away.”

“We believe that the report shows the way to sweep away so much of the red tape that frustrates so many businesses and which poses such a threat to the creation of jobs in the hospitality industry,” she said.

For further information:

Ufi Ibrahim

020 7404 7744

Martin Couchman

Deputy chief executive, BHA

Secretary to the Taskforce

020 7404 7744