Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to empower local authorities to prohibit sleeping in caravans in public spaces.

Local authorities have a range of powers that enable them to address this issue. A summary of the powers is published on the Government’s website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments

We have recently consulted on the effectiveness of powers to deal with unauthorised development and encampments. Now that the consultation has closed, we are carefully considering all responses before deciding what further action to take.