§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the Better Regulation Task Force report entitled "Tackling the Impact of Increasing Regulation—A Case Study of Hotels and Restaurants"; and if he will make a statement. [130539]
§ Janet Anderson[holding answer 17 July 2000]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I welcome the Better Regulation Task Force's report. It recognises the key importance of hotels and restaurants to the national 215W economy, and the industry's concern about the possible impact of regulation on its successful development. This is something we are already addressing by improving the machinery for considering the effects of policies on hotels and restaurants—one of the outcomes of the first Tourism Summit of Ministers held earlier this year. My Department, as lead sponsor for the tourism industry, will be co-ordinating the Government's formal response to the report over the next three months. The response will be reported to the House.