Draft guidance for managing unauthorised encampments - Chapter 1: introduction

An unauthorised encampment is an encampment of caravans and/or vehicles on land without the landowner’s or occupier’s consent and which constitutes a trespass.

The guidance is updated from managing unauthorised camping to managing unauthorised encampments to reflect the broader range of situations where such activities may occur. This change fosters a more inclusive approach in addressing the needs and challenges faced by Gypsy and Traveller communities.

An unauthorised encampment can be made up of any group of individuals or vehicles trespassing on land. However, this guidance is aimed at addressing the specific issues around the unauthorised encampments of Gypsies and Travellers.

An unauthorised encampment is different to cases where land has been bought and occupied by Gypsies and Travellers without the appropriate planning permission being in place. That is known as a private site without planning permission, which are not covered in this guidance.

Unauthorised encampments can be a source of tension within communities and require sensitive handling as local and public authorities need to balance the rights of Gypsies and Travellers and those of local residents.

‘Gypsies and Travellers’ are defined in section 108 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 as follows:

1. Persons of a nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, including:
   1. persons who, on grounds only of their own or their family’s or dependant’s educational or health needs or old age, have ceased to travel temporarily or permanently, and
   2. members of an organised group of travelling show people or circus people (whether or not travelling together as such); and
2. All other persons with a cultural tradition of nomadism or of living in a mobile home.

The intention of the above definition is to ensure ethnic Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers are included, as well as those from any ethnic group who follow a nomadic habit of life. The definition also includes Travelling Showpeople. New Travellers will also be captured by the definition if they follow a cultural tradition of nomadism.

Whilst each of these groups are associated with the travelling and nomadic way of life and may share some common beliefs and practices, each group have distinctive languages, traditions and ethnicities, and are also likely to have different needs for use of temporary encampments.

Gypsies and Travellers are indigenous to Wales. The latest 2021 Census estimated that around 3,600 of the usual resident population of Wales (0.1%) identified as Gypsy or Irish Traveller across Wales.The Welsh Government commission all Welsh local authorities to carry out their caravan count twice a year. These commissions are used to monitor caravan counts as part of the local authorities monitoring of accommodation needs, which is used as data when carrying out a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA).

This figure is likely to be an under-estimate, given that it is measuring a transitory population and as there is often under-reporting of ethnicity data. However, it is clear that there are more Gypsies and Travellers and caravans in Wales than there are permanent pitches or either transit or temporary/negotiated stopping places. At the time of publication, there are no temporary/negotiated stopping places or transit sites in Wales. Whilst the requirement for 7 transit pitches was identified by local authorities across their Cycle 2 GTAAs, these are not yet in place.

The caravan count is also likely to underestimate the true number of caravans on unauthorised encampments in Wales. The count relies on local authority officials updating and reconciling data on or soon after the chosen count dates, and a small number of local authorities may be unable to complete these actions for any given count. Additionally, unauthorised encampments may go undetected by local authorities, especially in larger rural areas and be omitted from the count.

The caravan count provides a snapshot of caravans and sites present around 2 days in January and July. By its design it captures only the caravans counted around those days, and therefore these figures will not reflect the nomadic nature of Gypsies and Travellers and the frequency with which they require temporary accommodation. Nor does the caravan count give any evidence around migratory patterns.

In Wales, unauthorised encampments tend to occur along the main transport routes which traditionally provided opportunities for work as well as access to the main ports for Ireland. The main routes are found along the M4 corridor as the main route from east to west in the south of Wales, the A470 as the main route from north to south Wales and along the A55 as the link from east to west in the north of Wales. However, encampments are found throughout Wales, often nowhere near these busy routes.

In addition, Gypsies and Travellers may revisit the same areas if they know there is access to the facilities they need or have had good experiences with local authorities.

A lack of transit and temporary/negotiated stopping places provision can lead to unauthorised encampments. Gypsies and Travellers who are nomadic typically use unauthorised encampments for short periods of time, days or weeks, before moving on again.

Some local authorities in Wales may have more unauthorised encampments than others. However, all local authorities are likely to experience some unauthorised encampments and should have policies and procedures in place to ensure that they are dealt with in a way that is effective, safe and sensitive to all parties involved. To facilitate this, the Welsh Government has developed this guidance to assist local authorities to develop their own policies and in doing so support the Gypsy and Traveller way of life.

This guidance is aimed at anyone dealing with unauthorised encampments of Gypsies and Travellers but is of particular importance for local authorities in Wales, who have a number of statutory duties to ensure the well-being of these communities.

However the guidance may also be of use by other land owners including other public authorities, such as National Park Authorities or Health Boards, as well as those attending unauthorised sites and assisting local authorities in their statutory duties, for example health visitors, Traveller Education Services (TES) and police forces.

Although this guidance is not aimed primarily at Gypsies and Travellers who may need to temporarily reside on an unauthorised encampment, some community members may find it to be a useful introduction to their rights and responsibilities in such a situation. Similarly, the draft ‘Police Forces Protocols on Managing Unauthorised Encampments’ will help community members understand the expectations around police involvement with unauthorised encampments.

For the purposes of this guidance the landowner will generally be the local authority. The Welsh Government recognises that unauthorised encampments do not occur exclusively on local authority owned land but different procedures and requirements apply to private land owners, who do not owe any statutory duties towards the community in the same was as local and other public authorities. Procedures relating to private landowners rules will be explored briefly later in the document.

Where land belongs to the Welsh Government or any other public authority, the local authority retains responsibility for meeting each of their statutory duties for those on the unauthorised encampments within their area.

Local authorities have a range of statutory duties towards Gypsies and Travellers residing and resorting within their area. Some of the key duties are listed below, which will apply irrespective of whether individuals are on a local authority site or unauthorised encampment.

Gypsies and Travellers are entitled to protection under the Equality Act 2010. Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers have both been recognised as distinct racial groups for the purposes of that Act. The Act prohibits unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of a person’s race and protects Gypsies and Travellers from unfair treatment or discrimination in a variety of fields, including in the exercise of public functions and the provision of services.

The Equality Act 2010 also requires all local and public authorities, whenever exercising their functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited under that Act. Local authorities must also advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons of different racial backgrounds. This includes having due regard, in particular, to the need to:

• remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by persons for reasons connected to their race
• take steps to meet the needs of persons of a particular race that are different from the needs of persons from other racial backgrounds
• tackle prejudice and promote understanding

Compliance with these duties may involve local authorities treating some persons more favorably than others.

Local authorities have statutory duties in relation to the homeless and those threatened with homelessness under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. Gypsies and Travellers living in caravans with nowhere to legally station them are likely to be legally homeless under that Act.

The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 also imposes express duties on local authorities to carry out an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers residing in or resorting to their area and to provide sites on which mobile homes may be stationed so far as may be necessary to meet those needs.

Section 17(1) of the Children’s Act 1989 states that it is the general duty of every local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need and to promote the upbringing of such children by their families by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. Section 20(1)(c) also requires every local authority to provide accommodation for any child in need within their area.

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2015 places a general duty on public authorities to promote the well-being of adults and children who need care and support.

The Act also requires local authorities to have due regard to the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (as adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 16th December 1991). Local authorities carrying out functions under the Act in relation to children with needs for care and support, child carers with needs for support and looked after and accommodated children must also have due regard to Part 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (see General Assembly resolution 44/25 of November 1989).

Under section 13 of the Education Act 1996, a local authority must contribute towards the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of the community by securing that efficient primary education and secondary education are available to meet the needs of the population of their area.

The Welsh Government recommends that local authorities conduct a welfare assessment on all residents living on an unauthorised encampment on publicly owned land to ensure that the authority is meeting each of the statutory duties listed above. This is the case even where the land on which an unauthorised encampment has been set up is not owned by the local authority but is instead owned by the Welsh Government or another public authority. This will allow the local authority to clearly demonstrate that they have taken account of their responsibilities towards those living on unauthorised sites within their area.

The guidance aims to:

• provide all parties involved in unauthorised encampments clear guidance on their roles, responsibilities and rights
• ensure a fair, consistent and lawful approach to dealing with unauthorised encampments which takes into account the interests and rights of all those involved
• set out recommended courses of action i.e. a step-by-step guide of what to do when dealing with an unauthorised encampment
• share current good practice examples
• provide templates for local authorities when undertaking welfare assessments
• summarise the enforcement powers in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, as inserted by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022