Conservative politicians in the United Kingdom are calling for trespass to be made a criminal offense, citing a significant increase in unauthorized traveller encampments and advocating for what they term the 'Irish Option'. This approach, which criminalized trespass in Ireland in 2002, would allow police to intervene more rapidly, rather than leaving enforcement to local councils under civil law.
Official data indicates that in January, there were 4,950 caravans on land without planning permission in England, marking a 73 percent rise over the past five years. Locals frequently report unauthorized encampments, but clearing them involves a lengthy legal process for councils.
Tory housing spokesman Sir James Cleverly supports a measure that would criminalize trespass for two or more individuals entering land with a vehicle and refusing to leave when asked by the landowner. He suggests this would deter illegal land occupation and place "law-breaking travellers" at risk of prosecution.
Previous legislation passed by Boris Johnson's administration to criminalize illegal camps, punishable by up to three months in prison, was struck down by the High Court in 2024. The court ruled it unlawfully discriminated against travellers under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Sir James proposes that a future Conservative government could avoid such legal challenges by withdrawing from the ECHR.
Planning Policy Changes Under Scrutiny
Meanwhile, critics of the current government's approach, including Sir James, argue that recent updates to national planning laws have inadvertently made it easier to establish new encampments. Specifically, they point to the removal of phrases concerning "long-distance travelling" and "potential environmental damage" from the final version of the National Planning Policy Framework. Concerns were also raised about the deletion of a sentence emphasizing that traveller sites should not be "isolated from the rest of the community."
An accompanying report stated that references to health and wellbeing impacts were removed to ensure traveller site proposals are considered consistently with other developments. The framework now suggests that "locations not well-related to existing settlements may be appropriate" for traveller sites, a change intended to address concerns that such sites might face greater difficulty gaining permission.
Sir James contends these changes would allow travellers to "abuse the system" and that the government is "inviting travellers to set up unauthorised camps and simply get things rubber stamped by planning officers after the concrete has been poured." He believes local communities will be angered by perceived watering down of rules.
However, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government denies these claims, stating the reforms clarify and strengthen the planning framework by giving greater weight to intentional breaches of planning rules. The ministry asserts that the reforms have not weakened environmental protections and that changes were made to remove duplications. The research indicated that the reforms strengthened rules on intentional unauthorized development by instructing councils to give "substantial weight" to whether a site was built without permission when considering retrospective applications.
Proposed Conservative Measures
The Conservative party has also outlined other potential measures, including indefinite return bans for those involved in illegal encampments and granting police new powers to remove travellers from a site upon a landowner's request, without the current need to prove significant damage or distress. They also aim to prohibit retrospective planning applications for caravan sites, ending the "build first, apply for permission later" practice.
Traveller representatives, however, argue that criminalizing trespass would penalize their nomadic way of life. Cliff Codona of the National Travellers' Action Group claims planning applications are often blocked once an applicant is identified as Romani. He stated that travellers feel they have no alternative but to break the law in some instances, citing difficulties in obtaining planning permission.
A government spokesperson reiterated that the government is cracking down on illegal sites and that the new planning rules explicitly address potential environmental damage and transport impacts, while making it harder to obtain retrospective permission for developments built without approval.