How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 58

The provisions in the Equality Act will come into force at different times to allow time
for the people and organisations affected by the new laws to prepare for them. The
Government is currently considering how the different provisions will be commenced
so that the Act is implemented in an effective and proportionate way. In the meantime,
the Government Equalities Office continues to work on the basis of the previously
announced timetable, which envisaged commencement of the Act's core provisions in
October 2010.
Access Statements
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) recommends that you produce an “Access
Statement”, and this has now also been made a condition of approval for a star rating
under the VisitBritain quality inspection scheme.
There is a useful help section about Access Statements, including background
information, guidance and a template, at VisitBritain’s website at:
www.VisitBritain.com/accessstatements
The “Bed Tax” Threat
This section on regulation and bureaucracy is the best place to mention yet a another
potential threat to B&Bs recently - and perhaps again imminently to reappear - on the
Government’s horizon: a “bed tax”.
The decades-old debate on how local government in the UK is financed led to the last
(Labour) Government commissioning Sir Michael Lyons to produce a report on all the
options. The ‘Lyons Inquiry’ issued its report in 2007.
The Lyons Inquiry stated that “taxes on tourist activity have been suggested as a way of
raising revenue for authorities, and ensuring that visitors contribute to the public
services they use…The most frequent proposal was for a local tax on hotel and similar
accommodation.” Sir Michael Lyons stated that he is “interested in exploring this issue
further, though I have noted that considerable further work would need to be
undertaken if new forms of taxation were to be contemplated.”
Basically what this meant is that the Government, always seeking new ways of raising
funds, had identified the tourist industry – hotels and B&Bs – as a potential “soft
target” for yet another new tax. The reasoning was of course that, while people may
squeal about their Council Tax bills, who will worry about a few pounds added to
every night spent at a B&B or hotel? Travellers and tourists are good for a milking for
extra revenue, and don’t command sympathy like pensioners or homeowners.
The authors, through their founding involvement in the Bed and Breakfast
Association, have been close to the Association’s response to this very real threat to the
future viability of B&Bs. We reproduce below the Bed and Breakfast Association’s
official submission to the Lyons Inquiry at its interim report and consultation stage –
which is self-explanatory:
How to Start & Run a B&B
www.howtorunabandb.com