A lot of the Hygiene Rating System comes down to having the correct paperwork and record keeping plus the necessity of having passed courses in hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) and reaching the required level 2 in approved food Hygiene. Without having complied with that, you will automatically get a one star rating. It doesn't mean the food served in such establishments is bad or unsafe, just that the business hasn't or couldn't comply with the regulations. By the same token, just because a business has a 5 star rating doesn't mean all is well, just that on the day of the inspection all the tick boxes on the inspection sheet were ticked and the records were up to date. That unfortunately is where the Environmental Health Inspectors loose their way. Because if all the paperwork is in place, they can then show due diligence if anything goes wrong and have covered their backside.
The former system of an Environmental Health Inspector carrying out an unannounced physical, hands on inspection with the ability to shut a business down on the spot if it didn't come up to standard, this was in my opinion far more likely to find the rotten apples
