Fitness for Purpose
Fitness for Purpose aims to provide customers in England with a firmer assurance that hotels, and the restaurants within them, will be fit for trading.
It is part of the drive for better overall quality in the tourism and hospitality industry. The initiative is not a quality scheme in itself, but seeks to better enforce existing food, health and safety, fire and trading standards legislation.
Fitness for Purpose was successfully piloted in six local authorities:
Blackpool Borough Council
Bournemouth Borough Council
Camden City Council
Canterbury city council
Greenwich London Borough
West Sussex County Council
The pilots found that Fitness for Purpose could result in:
- better consumer protection
- clearer regulatory standards for businesses and consumers;
- businesses being better informed about their obligations;
- less red tape for businesses, if local authorities coordinate inspections more effectively, with more self-assessment for well-run businesses.
It was therefore decided to roll out the scheme nationally from 1 February 2005. Local authorities are being encouraged to take forward Fitness for Purpose in their areas. The scheme was launched jointly by Richard Caborn, Minister for Tourism, and Cllr Chris White, Chair of the Local Government Association Regeneration Board. They said:
"Everyone booking accommodation in our hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses, should expect that, at the very least, the accommodation is fit to be trading.
Fitness for Purpose aims to create a framework within which this can be provided. And a more clearly publicised complaints procedure, as envisaged under the Fitness for Purpose approach, will ensure that problems are promptly investigated and properly dealt with.
Fitness for Purpose – Quality Counts shows how tourist destinations will benefit through Local Authorities being able to target their resources at those accommodation providers which are failing to get even the basics right. Ultimately, by helping those businesses to improve, destinations can achieve a better overall standard of accommodation across the board, from which to build further improvements in quality.
Well-run business will benefit too, through Local Authorities being able to take a lighter-touch approach to enforcement. For many businesses, compliance with regulations should become much easier and less costly.
Background Material
Policy Documents
Letters and forms used by the pilot schemes:
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