Crime reduction
04.10.18
High Court allows city council to imprison illegal campers on any of 60 ‘vulnerable’ sites
A council has been granted a High Court injunction allowing it to evict travellers setting up camp on protected green sites across the city.
The legal move means Wolverhampton City Council will be able to fine, arrest or even imprison anyone who is illegally occupying any of the 60 protected sites listed as part of the injunction.
The local authority will also have the ability to seize their assets.
According to Wolverhampton, this will save taxpayers’ money from being spent on expensive court proceedings and “excessive” clean-up operations.
It is also working alongside potential landowners to secure a transit site to enable travellers to have somewhere to stay when they are visiting the city.
The High Court injunction will be in place for three years, with a review hearing due in 12 months’ time in order to discuss the status of the transit site.
Today’s news comes a few months after a similar injunction was granted to a London borough council.
Cllr Steve Evans, Cabinet member for city environment at Wolverhampton council, said he was delighted with the news, which will help protect the city’s “most vulnerable spaces.”
“These encampments have caused a lot of disruption to our residents, especially over the past year. Now we have the injunction, the council will be able to speed up the frustrating delays we have experienced and remove anyone who pitches up on our protected sites more quickly,” he added.
“The injunction is something we have wanted in place for a very long time and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in making it happen.”
Council rejects Tory motion on unauthorised Traveller encampments
Councillor for Stoke Bishop, John Goulandris calls Bristol a ‘soft touch’ on Travellers and wants the council to expand enforcement powers.
Bristol City Council has rejected a Conservative motion to harden its enforcement policy towards unauthorised encampments.
Conservative Councillor for Stoke Bishop, John Goulandris presented the motion at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday, 11 September, requesting that Bristol City Council apply for a High Court injunction to be able to evict unauthorised encampments more quickly.
He also wanted Marvin Rees to join a Conservative campaign to change the law to make unauthorised encampments a criminal, rather than civil offence. The motion was seconded by Conservative Councillor Claire Hiscott for Horfield, who said that Bristol should “learn from others and legislate.”
After a furious response from representatives from all the other parties, the motion was lost.
Currently, unless an encampment poses an immediate danger, local authorities can’t evict immediately, as they have to balance duties to the public with welfare needs of the Travellers staying there. But recently some councils in the UK have applied for interim injunctions to ban people from setting up an unauthorised encampment anywhere on their authority.
“People are getting fed up of all these illegal Traveller incursions on public open space, in particular Horfield Common, Blaise Castle estate and the Downs,” Goulandris told the Cable.
Two Westbury-on-Trym residents, John and Caroline Craton, lent their support for the motion in a statement saying that they have “experienced first hand the impact of traveller incursions on this beautiful area of Bristol”.
“There has been a noticeable increase in the frequency of such incursions during the last few years, culminating in the latest group who occupied the area just next to our house for an extended period over the summer. I strongly suspect that this increase is largely attributable to the apparently ‘laissez-faire’ attitude of the authorities to their presence,” they added.
“Deliberately inflammatory, bordering on discriminatory”
Councillors were quick to condemn the language used in the motion, with Labour Councillor for Easton, Ruth Pickersgill calling it “deliberately inflammatory, bordering on discriminatory” and Green Councillor for Clifton, Paula O’Rourke saying that the motion had the “dog-whistle of racism about it”. She said that criminalising trespass was dangerous and that legislating against encampments in this way would be a “sledgehammer”.
“I take great exception to the phrase ‘hard working, law-abiding, tax paying Bristolians’, as though it applies to everyone other than Travellers”
Goulandris denied that the motion was an attack on Travellers or Travelling, which gave rise to some laughter in the public gallery, referencing his own experience as a ‘traveller’.
“In my youth, I spent time travelling. Initially in tents and later camper vans. But at no time did I trespass, drop litter or flytip. I used approved sites, which had the added benefit of providing washing and toilet facilities. Travelling does not necessitate breaking the law. That’s a conscious choice and it’s time we responded robustly to illegal behaviour,” he said.
“The motion refers to Travellers as though they were a homogenous group,” said Pickersgill, adding that as well as Irish Travellers and Romany and English Gypsies, there were now New Travellers and vandwellers, who are not entitled to use the 24 pitches the council has available for GRT groups.
“And I take great exception to the phrase ‘hard working, law-abiding, tax paying Bristolians’, as though it applies to everyone other than Travellers,” she added. “They’re also part of that group. Many of our Traveller families have lived in Bristol and surrounding areas for generations, they work extremely hard, they do pay taxes and they do abide by the law. We can’t categorise a whole group.”
“13 years ago, Trevor Phillips, then chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, said: “Discrimination against Gypsies and Travellers appears to be the last ‘respectable’ form of racism.” I think I hear a little of this in this motion”
She pointed out that GRT are among the most disadvantaged groups in the UK, with lower life expectancy and higher prevalence of anxiety and depression than in the settled population.
“They deliberately seek out places where they feel safe because they’re regularly targets of crime and attacks.”
After the meeting, O’Rourke released a statement saying: “13 years ago, Trevor Phillips, then chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, said: “Discrimination against Gypsies and Travellers appears to be the last ‘respectable’ form of racism.” I think I hear a little of this in this motion. I know that there is a problem but I don’t think that criminalisation and banishment are the solution.”
Goulandris said he was “disappointed but not surprised by Labour’s unwillingness to debate this seriously.”
“Illegal traveller trespass costs the city thousands of pounds and it’s disappointing that Labour don’t wish to explore ways of reducing these costs. Labour tried to shut down the debate by suggesting that looking at new ways of taking action against illegal trespass was somehow racist.”
Criminalisation is not the answer
Pickersgill said the real question was whether provision for Travellers in Bristol was enough. There is a chronic shortage of socially rented pitches UK-wide. Bristol has two designated travellers sites – one in Ashton Vale which has 12 pitches and another in Lawrence Weston which has 20 pitches. And, with only 4% of planning applications from Travellers are successful, the number of Traveller families with nowhere to live is on the rise.
“Nationally, the number of authorised sites has actually gone up but not in the main Tory-controlled areas. Unauthorised sites are only 16% and the numbers are actually going down,” she said.
Since the Caravan Sites Act 1968 was repealed by the Conservatives in 1994, local authorities no longer have a statutory obligation to provide somewhere for Travellers to live and traditional Stopping Places have been being eroded for decades – taken away to be built on, taking away space for Nomadic people to make more space for settled people.
Goulandris said that the fact that one of the Traveller sites was at half capacity showed that Bristol had enough provision.
“There are clear and simple solutions to allow the Gypsy way of life as dictated by UN law and to promote harmony between different ethnic groups; criminalising stopping, particularly without any extra provision, is not one of them”
Jim Davies, manager of the equality and social justice unit at the Traveller Movement, said that arresting people for parking up on public spaces is not the answer.
“There are clear and simple solutions to allow the Gypsy way of life as dictated by UN law and to promote harmony between different ethnic groups; criminalising stopping, particularly without any extra provision, is not one of them.
“The government should focus on supporting local authorities to build more authorised sites and stopping places, and to allow Gypsies and Travellers who want sites on their own land equitable access to the planning system.”
The Conservative Group has sent a letter to the Prime Minister, asking for government to discuss the issue in Parliament.
British Local Governments Take Thousands Of Eastern European Migrant Children Into Care: Report
British local governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to care for the children of Eastern European migrant workers, the Telegraph reported Saturday.
Figures obtained by the London newspaper indicate that as many as 8,000 children from Eastern European countries have entered adoption or child protection proceedings in Britain during the past decade. The number has almost doubled over the past five years as the number of migrants from Poland, Romania and other Eastern European nations reached 1 million.
Critics of the trend argue the children should be put up for adoption or put into protective care in their native countries. Officials in Eastern European nations have similarly called on the British government to transfer the children home.
“The cost here are enormous, and it is helping to break the care system,” John Hemming, a former Liberal Democrat parliament member and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Family Law, told the Telegraph. “So if the Eastern European governments are calling out for the children to be sent back, why isn’t that happening?”
In many of the cases reviewed by the Telegraph, Eastern European children were taken into state custody against the parents’ wishes in so-called forced adoptions. Other instances involved mothers who had unwanted pregnancies out of wedlock. Guest workers from Roman Catholic countries such as Poland frequently were reluctant to have abortions or tell their families back home, so they chose to put their children up for adoption in Britain.
A small number of cases involved parents who put unwanted offspring into the British system, believing their children would receive better care in Britain than in Eastern Europe, a child care lawyer told the newspaper.
Pressures on Britain’s child care system have arrived as the national government is preparing to open its doors to unaccompanied refugee children from conflict zones.
The government said in January it expected “several hundred” children, mostly from outside Europe, to come to Britain as part of this effort, International Business Times sibling Newsweek reported last month. Policymakers created a £10 million ($14 million) fund to help reunite children with their families elsewhere in Europe and potentially bring children with relatives in Britain into the country.
Britain’s opposition Labour Party and child welfare organizations have said the initiative is too narrow. The charity Save the Children previously called on the British government to take 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children from within Europe, Newsweek reported
FOR YOUR INFORMATION :
If you need legal help on the roadside, or to do with your pitch, there is a Travellers Advice Team at Community Law Partnership you can call on 0121 685 8677 or 07768 316755 if its an emergency.
NEWS UPDATE
NHS bosses accused of 'racism' over email warning staff about Gypsy/Travellers
HEALTH chiefs have been accused of racism after sending an email to staff advising them to avoid approaching or speaking to Gypsy/Travellers.
Bosses at NHS National Services Scotland’s Edinburgh Gyle campus warned employees about “the presence of a Travelling community in the local area”.
Campaigners insisted there was no excuse for the “propagation of racist and discriminatory stereotypes” – and accused the NHS of setting a bad example.
An internal memo sent to staff in August, and obtained by Holyrood magazine, said facilities would be locked over the weekend due to Travellers moving in nearby. It said: “If you have a car in the car park, please make sure you have moved it by 8pm this evening.
“If approached consider avoiding dialogue with the travelling community members to prevent any possible issues.
“Be vigilant on access and security to the building and site, reporting any breaches immediately.”
Bosses apologised just three hours later following complaints.
A further memo read: “We’d like to apologise for any offence caused by the recent communication that was circulated today, entitled ‘Gyle Square gates will be locked from 8pm this evening’. This was not the intention.”
NHS NSS provides advice and services to the rest of NHS Scotland.
Friends, Families and Travellers – an organisation which seeks to end racism and discrimination against Gypsies, Travellers and Roma – said it was “deeply saddened” to hear about the memo.
Health improvement worker Ivy Manning, a member of the Romany Gypsy community, said: “The NHS is such a trusted organisation. I would trust them with my life – I would go there if I was dying.
“I feel that the memo sets a bad example to the rest of the UK – the fact the NHS is saying this makes it okay for others to say it too. Traveller advocate Davie Donaldson accused the NHS of propagating “false stereotypes”.
He told Holyrood: “There is no excuse for the propagation of racist and discriminatory stereotypes against any community.”
Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said “Scotland’s Gypsy/Traveller communities face discrimination on a daily basis and this is a very worrying example from NHS officials who should be helping to reduce health inequalities, not exacerbate them.”
A spokeswoman for NHS NSS said it “apologises unreservedly for any offence that has been caused”.
She said bosses were now seeking to “engage” with Travellers to “discuss and enhance our understanding of the issues that they face” – while additional training has also been put in place in the form of "tailored workshops".
She said: “We recognised that we had made a mistake and immediately tried to retract the message, and issued an apology.
“An email detailing the weekend closure of the gates at our Gyle Square site was issued to all staff on August 31 and made specific mention of the Travelling community.
“We deeply regret the content of that email which did not meet our required standards around equality, diversity and inclusion and is not reflective of our views as an organisation. An apology was issued very quickly and additional training has been put in place.” “NSS aims to be a leading organisation for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion and, as such, it is mandatory for all staff to undertake equality and diversity training every three years.
“We have very successful staff equality networks who help shape and develop equality approaches for NSS, and we will continue to build on this.
“However, as an organisation we will learn lessons from this situation to ensure that this does not happen again.”
She added: “As an organisation we are pleased that our staff feel able to raise concerns, and we took immediate action to address these.
“Where are they getting this information from? They need to do training. We just want to be treated the same as everyone else – we still bleed the same.”