Javid hands police tough new powers to evict travellers from illegal camps
POLICE will get tough new powers to clamp down on illegal traveller sites causing ‘distress’, Sajid Javid will announce today.
The Home Secretary will unveil measures to make it easier and quicker for officers to evict those whose presence heaps misery on communities.
Ministers want to criminalise unauthorised camps, rather than deal with them under civil law, amid concern it is too hard to prosecute for aggravated trespass.
The aim is to give ‘greater protection’ to residents whose lives are blighted by anti- social behaviour including fly-tipping, abusive conduct, criminal damage and noise.
There are also concerns some sites interfere with public access to playgrounds, car parks and playing fields.
Mr Javid has acted after growing calls for robust measures to safeguard landowners and those living close to unofficial camps.
He 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. People want to see greater protection for local communities and for the police to be given greater power to crack down on trespassers.’
There are an estimated 3,100 caravans on unauthorised sites – about 14 per cent of the total of 22,600 on all sites.
The Home Office is launching a review into whether trespassing when setting up a camp should be criminalised, allowing the police to respond more swiftly and take tougher steps.
The move would significantly
‘Cause distress and misery’
lower the legal threshold for criminal action against illegally camped travellers.
Ministers will also consult on proposals to change the law to close a string of loopholes, including cutting the number of vehicles needed to be involved in an illegal camp before police can act from six to two.
Meanwhile powers for officers to order travellers on unauthorised sites to move on will be widened. Those ordered to leave will be barred from returning for at least a year – up from the current three months.
Officers would be permitted to direct travellers to an official site in a neighbouring local authority rather than in the same area. And they could, for the first time, remove trespassers camping on roadsides.
A package of practical and financial support for local authorities to handle illegal camps will also be announced.
One of the most notorious evictions was in 2011 at Dale Farm in Essex when the unauthorised traveller camp of 85 families was dismantled after violent confrontation with bailiffs and riot police following a ten-year dispute with Basildon Council on green belt land.
The eviction cost taxpayers more than £7million.
In 2015, the Government criticised police and council chiefs for routinely placing too much weight on human rights and equalities legislation when faced with the ‘nuisance’ of illegal camps.
Last year, Surrey Police sparked fury after telling villagers they should sympathise with travellers who set up an illegal camp outside their homes because it was ‘upsetting’ to have to keep moving around.