The government will launch a consultation on proposals to
give police new powers to arrest and seize the property and
vehicles of trespassers who set up unauthorised caravan
sites.
Currently such trespassing is defined in law as a civil
matter. But the Home Office is consulting on making it a
criminal offence.
Home Secretary said:
Unauthorised encampments can cause misery to those who
live nearby, with reports of damage to property, noise,
abuse and littering.
The public want their communities protected and for the
police to crack down on trespassers.
Our proposals aim to ensure these encampments can be
challenged and removed as quickly as possible.
This follows a Home Office review into how trespassing
while setting up an unauthorised encampment could be made a
criminal offence in England and Wales, learning lessons
from other countries like the Republic of Ireland.
As a result, the Home Office is proposing to broaden the
categories of criminal trespass to cover trespassers who
enter onto any land without permission of the occupier with
the intention to reside.
As part of the consultation, which will begin on Tuesday,
the Home Office is also seeking further views from local
authorities, police forces, travellers, communities and the
general public on alternative measures giving the police
greater powers to tackle unauthorised encampments.
These proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice and
Public Order Act 1994 include:
- lowering the number of vehicles needed to be involved
in an unauthorised camp before police can act from 6 to 2
- giving the police powers to direct offenders to sites
in neighbouring local authorities. Currently they can only
direct trespassers to sites in the same area
- allowing officers to remove trespassers from camping on
or beside a road
- increasing the time - from 3 months to a year - during
which offenders are not allowed to return to a site they
have already been removed from
Responses to an initial consultation on the amendments,
launched in April 2018, were clear that problems are caused
for communities and business across the country by
unauthorised encampments.
Councils have since been reminded of their existing
obligation to provide enough “transit sites”, which provide
travellers with a place to stay short-term and prevent
problems from being shifted to neighbouring areas.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
(MHCLG) has made nearly £2 million available to councils to
crack down on illegal developments, with funding also
available under the £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme
to help develop authorised sites.
In June this year the government announced MHCLG will lead
development of a cross-government strategy to improve
outcomes for travellers.
