set out draft measures
aimed at making it easier for officers to intervene and
remove travellers from land they should not be on.
The Home Secretary will also consider making it a criminal
offence to set up such camps. It is currently defined in
law as trespassing, a civil matter.
In addition, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and
Local Government (MHCLG) announced it will provide local
authorities with practical and financial support to handle
unauthorised encampments.
Home Secretary said:
The vast majority of travellers are law-abiding citizens
- but illegal sites often give an unfair, negative image
of their community and cause distress and misery to those
who live nearby.
There is a widespread perception that the law does not
apply to travellers and that is deeply troubling.
The result of our initial consultation was clear - people
want to see greater protection for local communities and
for the police to be given greater power to crack down on
trespassers.
Communities Secretary Rt Hon MP said:
During our consultation, we have heard accounts of
needless and unacceptable noise, abusive and threatening
behaviour and extensive litter and waste from illegal
traveller sites.
Only a small minority of people are causing this
distress, but it’s right that police are given extra
powers to step in.
We are committed to working with councils to help them
deal with these challenging cases, while also ensuring
travellers have good access to legal sites.
The plans follow an initial consultation by the government
to look at how to strengthen the response from police and
local authorities, following calls for robust measures to
protect landowners and those living close by.
The consultation response was clear problems are caused for
communities by travellers moving from place to place – so
councils will be reminded of their existing obligation to
provide enough “transit sites” to reduce the risk of
communities seeing illegal sites set-up on their doorstep
and to identify suitable sites, so problems are not simply
shifted on to neighbouring areas.
MHCLG has committed to give councils up to £1.5 million of
extra funding to help them enforce planning rules and
tackle unauthorised sites, with funding also available
under the £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme to help pay
for legal pitches.
Alongside this, the department has given £250,000 to
support projects working with Gypsy, Traveller and Roma
communities to tackle discrimination, improve integration,
healthcare and education.
As part of the measures announced today, ministers will
consider making data available on where legal sites are so
it is clear which authorities are not offering their fair
share of traveller facilities. Under new guidance to be
published, the Communities Secretary will step in and
review cases where there are concerns raised there are too
many authorised traveller sites in one location.
Additionally, the Home Office will launch a review into
whether it should criminalise the act of trespassing when
setting up an encampment. A change in the law may allow the
police to respond quicker and take tougher action.
The Home Office will also consult on proposals to amend the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to:
- lower the number of vehicles needed to be involved in
an illegal camp before police can act from 6 to 2
- give the police powers to direct travellers to sites in
neighbouring local authorities. Currently they can only
direct trespassers to sites in the same area
- allow officers to remove trespassers from camping on or
beside a road
- increase the time - from 3 months to a year - during
which travellers are not allowed to return to a site they
have already been removed from
