§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will review the guidance issued to local authorities regarding the removal of travellers from unauthorized sites; [8161]
(2) if he will list the cases where local authorities have been challenged in the courts regarding their policy towards the removal of travellers from unauthorised sites, including the outcome in each instance. [8162]
§ Mr. RaynsfordMy Department has no knowledge of any case involving a challenge to a local authority's policy towards the removal of unauthorised campers. There have, however, been three cases of which we are aware where an authority's decision to evict, using powers in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, has been challenged in the courts. In the case of Rv Wealden District Council ex parte Wales and others, the direction issued by the local authority under section 77 of the 1994 Act, and the magistrates' court order, were both quashed by the judge. In the parallel case of R v Lincolnshire County Council ex parte Atkinson the judge exercised his discretion not to quash the direction and the eviction order, and those travellers were evicted. R v Wolverhampton MBC ex parte Dunne followed, and approved, the Wealden judgment. There may also be other cases in which a local authority's use of either planning enforcement powers, or of possession proceedings to remove trespassers, has been challenged, or where an application by travellers for leave for judicial review has been refused by the courts. My Department would not necessarily be notified of these.
We have no plans to review the advice in my Department's Circular No. 18/94, "Gypsy Sites Policy and Unauthorised Camping", that local authorities should take into account existing statutory responsibilities under health and welfare legislation when deciding whether to evict unauthorised campers. Those responsibilities exist independently of the Circular, and would apply even if it had not been issued.