Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2019 to Question 226712, what steps his Department is taking to give due consideration to the Public Sector Equality Duty in terms of the effect on Gypsy and Traveller communities during the review into how to criminalise the act of trespassing when setting up an unauthorised encampment.

Acting on the findings of the last year’s Government consultation on powers for dealing with unauthorised development and encampments, where the majority of respondents believed that the Government should consider criminalising unauthorised encampments, the Home Office launched a review into whether this could be achieved.

All government departments have an ongoing responsibility to meet the Public Sector Equalities Duty (PSED) under the Equality Act 2010. As such, when formulating any policy changes following the consultation, ministers must have due regard to the three limbs of the PSED: (1) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act, (2) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not, and (3) foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.