No functioning process could have created this mess and DEFRA have no functioning process to fix their mess.
There's no functioning process that could have put DEFRA in charge of the country's hotels and boarding establishments. There's no functional process that DEFRA used to choose the objectives and write the regulations without any knowledge of the industry or representation of our industry. There's no functioning process that gives the power of interpretation to local council employees without providing guidance or confirming that licensing officers were up to the task.
Allowing DEFRA to write regulations for an industry they knew nothing about is the equivalent of asking the Department of Work and Pensions to take over the logistics for an international haulage company.
What we've learned is that foisting responsibilty for writing regulations onto government departments who have no relevant experience leads to irreversible disaster for businesses.
In this case DEFRA didn't bother learning to crawl, they just picked up the scissors and ran through a crowded room and inevitably missed the lesson where primary school children are encouraged to think by colouring inside the existing lines before free-forming across the carpet and scrawling across the walls.
DEFRA knows it got everything wrong, but DEFRA doesn't have a functioning process to fix their mess and no incentive to fix anything.
- DEFRA decided on their own brief and objectives.
- They employed no foresight to detect negative consequences, gave no thoughts to financial impacts and had no understanding of practicalities.
- DEFRA didn't know that a sole trader runs a different business to a large staffed cattery, didn't consider the capabilities of different age groups or the types of building or the materials inside were based on regulations that had been followed over decades.
- DEFRA didn't identify any areas where simple feasibility or logical checks could be applied, and they had absolutely no expertise and received no useful advice and still chose to do the job without any consultation.
Does Everyone Feel Really Angry?