12 September 2024
Two years after the new anti-Traveller laws came into force, many Gypsies and Travellers; who still go out travelling and who regularly camp ‘roadside’ with their trailers, are increasingly fearful of travelling because they are worried about losing their homes – say researchers who have been speaking to Travellers in West Yorkshire.
The Narrow Margins research project is based at Birmingham University and has been studying the effects of the increasing criminalisation of trespass on both Gypsies and Travellers – and also on homeless people – and how land use is regulated specifically to further marginalise these groups. Supported by Leeds GATE, as part of their research, they have been interviewing Travellers both living on Traveller sites and living roadside in West Yorkshire.
Part of the increasing criminalisation of trespass that specifically affects Travellers in England and Wales, is the new ‘anti-travelling law’, which are the new police powers contained and described in section 60 of the the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which came into force through amendments contained in the Police Act in June 2022.
Under the new law, a criminal offence is triggered once a ‘section 60C’ notice is served on a group of Travellers on an unauthorised or ‘roadside’ camp and they then refuse to – or can’t – leave. The criminal offence is punishable by six months in prison, and/or a £2,500 fine and/or the impounding and confiscation of vehicles and trailers. However, the police can only use section 60C, official guidance says, if they believe that the camp has caused, or will be likely to cause, significant damage, disruption, destruction, or distress.
The Travellers’ Times can also reveal that despite parts of the new anti-travelling law being found unlawful and in breach of human rights laws, by a High Court Judge earlier this year, police forces across England are continuing to use the law to evict Traveller camps – and in at least one case the Travellers’ Times came across – to also seize Traveller’s homes.
Fear and misinformation about the new law is common among the Travellers they spoke to, say researchers, and this is what is known as the ‘chilling effect’, which means that the threat of the law is stopping people from travelling and stopping roadside, even though not many arrests or seizures of vehicles were made by police using section 60C in the first travelling season after the law came in to force. In most cases where section 60C was used, the Travellers’ Times revealed in July 2023, the Travellers moved on when directed to – and no arrests or seizures of property were made. Yet the chilling effect is pernicious and is deterring Travellers from travelling, say the Narrow Margins researchers.
“There’s not enough sites, not enough sites to fit people on,” one former roadside Traveller told the Narrow Margins researchers. “There’s not even enough transit sites,” the Traveller added. “and with the new Police Act that’s come out, you can’t travel, so you’re basically stuck there. We’ re just rotting away on that site.”
This chilling effect is in danger of disrupting the Gypsy and Traveller way of life, as many still regularly travel. Some are on the road permanently; some are out for the late spring and summer months, often escaping crowded permanent Traveller sites, or winter only bits of land that they own but which do not have residential planning permission, and some Travellers hook up their trailers to escape bricks and mortar housing for the travelling season. Many Gypsies and Travellers will travel for work; to visit extended family in different parts of the UK or Ireland, often attending big family events like weddings and funerals; and also for the freedom that a life on the road can bring.
Gypsies and Travellers also travel to visit cultural events like fairs and horse fairs, and some may even travel to attend the big Light and Life Pentecostal Christian gatherings that are becoming increasingly common. It is well established in UK law that Romany Gypsies and Travellers have a right to their ethnic heritage – and travelling is part of that. It is this way of life, practised in some families for generations, that is seen as under threat by many Gypsies and Travellers.
“Last year, we’re not allowed to stay roadside anymore, and if you do, you get your caravan taken off you, and you might be going to get fines or get locked up,” one Traveller told the Narrow Margin researchers. “Obviously, that’s what made my dad get his yard — because he wasn’t allowed his yard — it wasn’t for living on,” they added. “But because this law came out, and Gypsies and Travellers weren’t allowed to live roadside, we had to live on there. He said he’s got nowhere to go.”
“Some people did say the police act is the final nail in the coffin (for travelling),” Narrow Margins researcher Isabella Pojuner told the Travellers’ Times. “They might say ‘this is the end of the Gypsies and Travellers way of life, but in the same interview they might also say, ‘but I’m still travelling roadside’, or, ‘I have hope that in the future, future generations will be able to,’” added Pojuner.
“A lot of people expressed that they want to continue travelling roadside, or they’d like to start again because it’s part of their identity. It’s synonymous with, for some – a lot of people – it’s synonymous with being a Gypsy or a Traveller. Even if that means breaking the law in some cases, there’s that defiance and resistance to the law.”
The chilling effect is compounded by the police often not telling Travellers which powers they are using to move them on, and because many Travellers have a culture of just shifting on when confronted by the authorities, as they see challenging evictions through the courts as a “futile exercise,” say the Narrow Margin researchers.
“(The Travellers) knowledge of the law varied quite widely,” says Pojuner. “Some people recognized section 60C, and all the other different sections and different provisions, and some people didn’t, and some people just spoke about how they were just moved on (by the authorities) who didn’t cite the law at all, which is of concern,” adds Pojuner.
“The way that the new laws are used – or not used – varies across England and Wales, which also compounds the chilling effect, even in areas where the local police force isn’t using the new law – or only using it in exceptional circumstances as a last resort.”
This is backed up by an investigation using freedom of information laws undertaken by Jake Bowers for Drive 2 Survive, a Romany Gypsy-led campaign group originally set up specifically to challenge the new anti-Travelling laws.
Bowers found that, in total, the new powers to evict and seize caravans parked on land without permission were used just 33 times in the first nine months from the date that they had come into force in June 2022. The investigation also revealed that large parts of the country from Wales to Durham and to Suffolk have not used the new powers at all, but one force alone – Thames Valley Police – used the powers a staggering 19 times.
Of the 43 forces surveyed 20 responded with information about the use of the new powers and 10 forces did not respond at all despite being legally required to do so within 20 days. Six forces said they held no information at all about the use of the new powers, while seven forces refused to respond saying it would take them too long to gather the information without charging a £450 fee.
“West Yorkshire Police, for example, have designed their own policy that says that the enforcement of the Police Act can’t be done unless it’s (taken) with the decision of a senior police officer,” says Pojuner.
“The police around Yorkshire, and the council, are more understanding (towards roadside Travellers) than other parts of the country,” says Pojuner, adding that for example, Leeds City Council will drop toilets, more than likely a skip, and bring black bags down for rubbish and Travellers always get at least a week.
“However, what it doesn’t do is reduce the fear and the chilling effect that communities experience knowing that those powers are available to be used (because) even though the police forces can take these different stances, what it doesn’t do is necessarily take away from the chilling effect of these police powers, (because) if you’re traveling across the country, it could be really unclear which jurisdiction you’re in.”
One Traveller confirmed this with the Narrow Margins researchers, telling them that some were different than others. “In Brighton they had a force that would use it, they’d give you an hour to be gone,” the Traveller told the researchers. “If yous weren’t gone, a couple of trucks were waiting at the gate to remove your stuff.”
The new powers lasted just over 18 months before they were partly successfully challenged in the High Court in January earlier this year by Wendy Smith, A Romany Gypsy, and her lawyers. Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) and Liberty were also involved in the case, and the Narrow Margins researchers provided evidence of the chilling effect to FFT, who presented it to the court. The judgement, which was made public two months ago in May, declared that parts of the new police powers; in particular the no return within 12 months or face arrest clause, were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights – which the UK is signed up to – and therefore amounted to unlawful discrimination. The judgement also recognised the ‘chilling effect’, with the judgement stating:
“The Claimant contended that the provisions had a “chilling effect” – i.e. the existence of section 60C and 60D would serve to dissuade Gypsies from stopping from place to place, as is their custom. There is some support for this in the evidence on the use of the new powers so far. An article in the Travellers’ Times of 18 July 2023 refers to the police using the new provisions to encourage Gypsies to move on, without actually resorting to the use of the power to arrest or the power to seize property. Further, research published in August 2023 by academics at Birmingham City University is to the effect that the possibility of arrest under section 60C has resulted in Gypsies stopping at unauthorised encampments for shorter periods and moving more frequently.”
Yet the Travellers’ Times can reveal that police forces across England are still using the new powers. Our recent search of local media reports shows that section 60C has been used at least six times in the last five months to evict camps in Bristol, Nantwich and Leamington Spa, among others. And that’s just section 60C, because it’s important to note that the previously existing police powers of sections 61 and 62 – which police forces are continuing to use – now also contain the unlawful discrimination of the ‘no return with 12 months’ clause, thanks to the amendments in the Police Act.
We asked Pojuner what could be done about the chilling effect and the new anti-Travelling law in general.
“What we’d like to see (under the new Government) is those (unlawful) provisions being either amended through a remedial order or new legislation replaces them,” answered Pojuner. “It’s not usually normal for those things to be repealed, though we’re hoping that we can brief the government to repeal those provisions because we consider them wasteful.”
Pojuner also pointed out that the National Police Chiefs Council said in a consultation response that they did not want the new anti-Travelling law, adding that they already had enough powers to deal with ‘unauthorised camps’.
“After we’ve received the High Court decision that says that these new powers are incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights, we can hope that a new Labour government will listen to that and respond to what The High Court has done because (the new Government) acknowledge the importance of the European Convention of Human Rights,” says Pojuner. “And here, (Prime Minister) Starmer himself, being a lawyer, should be more inclined to, to protect human rights and recognize those human rights. So, by speaking to the new Labour Government, we’ve got more chances of building on this decision.”
The Travellers’ Times approached the government for comment and asked them why a law that has been found to be discriminatory and unlawful was still being used, and when were they going to bring it back to Parliament to be fixed.
In a statement released to the Travellers’ Times, a government spokesperson said:
“The government fully acknowledges the High Court’s decision. As with all decisions of this nature, we will be taking the time to consider the ruling and determine the most appropriate next steps.”
The government acknowledging the High Court decision and taking time to decide what to do about, is probably the tiniest of possible steps forward towards at best repealing the new law – and at worst only reverting the unlawful ’12 month no return’ clause back to the previous (lawful) time frame of no return in three months. Either way, until amending the unlawful Police Act reaches the top of the new government’s ‘to do’ list, the chilling effect will continue.
In the meantime, the best advice that we can give to Travellers that are facing eviction by the police is to ask them which police powers they are using.
If it’s section 60 that they are using to evict you, then ask the police what makes them believe that the camp is causing – or is likely to cause – significant damage, disruption, destruction, or distress, because – in theory anyway – that’s the only time the police should use those draconian new powers.
And as to the chilling effect? Remember that the Police can’t just wade in and seize your homes and your vehicles under section 60. They have to ask you to leave first and the criminal offence is only then triggered if you don’t.
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