§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will seek to amend section 77(3)(b) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 so as to make it a criminal offence for travellers having been evicted to return to any land in the same district within three months; [18214]
(2) if he will seek to amend the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to enable agents acting for local authorities to confiscate property belonging to travellers subject to eviction orders as compensation for damage done to public land and legal costs incurred in securing evictions. [18215]
§ Mr. RaynsfordWe have no plans to amend the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 in the way that the hon. Gentleman suggests.
The 1994 Act already makes it a criminal offence for unauthorised campers who have been directed to leave land, to return to the same land with a vehicle within three months of the date of the direction. We do not think it would be reasonable to make the whole of a local authority's area out of bounds to campers, because they have been evicted from one site in that area. The stronger the powers, the more difficult it would be for a local authority to persuade the courts that it was acting reasonably in seeking an eviction order.
Consultation preceding the introduction of the 1994 Act powers revealed a majority of respondents, including local authorities, opposed to local authority powers to seize vehicles belonging to unauthorised campers. This was thought to be unreasonable and impracticable, and the proposal was dropped.
The Government considers that the 1994 Act powers strike a reasonable balance between the need to control what can be a public nuisance and the rights of the campers concerned, in line with the European Convention on Human Rights. We have commissioned research to look at how local authorities deal with unauthorised camping in their areas, and will be issuing good practice advice based on that research in Spring next year.