Introduction
Gypsies and Travellers first arrived in England and Wales in about 1500. Over the centuries they have been subjected to prejudice and discrimination. By the beginning of the twentieth century, while remaining effectively excluded from education and proper health care, they had at least arrived at a position where they were able to find places to stop for reasonable periods of time, such as on the enormous areas of common land that existed in England and Wales.
However, all this was to change in 1960 when the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act (CSCDA) was passed. The CSCDA 1960 Act was designed to regulate and control private caravan sites and provided that no occupier of land could use it as a caravan site without a site licence and that a site licence could not be obtained unless planning permission had been granted for the use of the land for such a purpose. Section 23 of the CSCDA 1960 also gave local authorities the power to close common land to Gypsies and other Travellers. This power was used enthusiastically by local authorities. However, the local authorities failed to make use of the collateral power to provide caravan sites to compensate for the closure of the commons (provided by Section 24 of the CSCDA 1960) and it became increasingly difficult for the Gypsy and Traveller population to carry on their nomadic way of life.
Having recognised the problems caused by the 1960 Act, Parliament passed the Caravans Sites Act (CSA) 1968. It came into effect on 1st April, 1970 and was designed to convert the Section 24 CSCDA 1960 power into a duty imposed on County Councils to provide caravan sites for Gypsies resorting to or residing in their area.
Though sites were built as a result of the CSA 1968 a number of authorities failed to comply with their duty and there remained a significant shortfall in authorised accommodation.
As Sedley J noted in R v Lincolnshire CC ex p Atkinson:
’For the next quarter of a century there followed a history of non-compliance with the duties imposed by the Act of 1968, marked by a series of High Court decisions holding local authorities to be in breach of their statutory duty, to apparently little practical effect.’
Then in 1994 the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) was passed. The CJPOA 1994 repealed much of the CSA 1968, including the duty imposed on County Councils to provide authorised sites. Though the Section 24 CSCDA 1960 power to provide sites has been retained, central funding for the provision of such sites was withdrawn and with little incentive to use that power the number of local authority sites has fallen. At the same time the CJPOA 1994 gave both the Police and local authorities additional powers to remove Gypsies and Travellers when they park their caravans on unauthorised encampments.
However, all this was to change in 1960 when the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act (CSCDA) was passed. The CSCDA 1960 Act was designed to regulate and control private caravan sites and provided that no occupier of land could use it as a caravan site without a site licence and that a site licence could not be obtained unless planning permission had been granted for the use of the land for such a purpose. Section 23 of the CSCDA 1960 also gave local authorities the power to close common land to Gypsies and other Travellers. This power was used enthusiastically by local authorities. However, the local authorities failed to make use of the collateral power to provide caravan sites to compensate for the closure of the commons (provided by Section 24 of the CSCDA 1960) and it became increasingly difficult for the Gypsy and Traveller population to carry on their nomadic way of life.
Having recognised the problems caused by the 1960 Act, Parliament passed the Caravans Sites Act (CSA) 1968. It came into effect on 1st April, 1970 and was designed to convert the Section 24 CSCDA 1960 power into a duty imposed on County Councils to provide caravan sites for Gypsies resorting to or residing in their area.
Though sites were built as a result of the CSA 1968 a number of authorities failed to comply with their duty and there remained a significant shortfall in authorised accommodation.
As Sedley J noted in R v Lincolnshire CC ex p Atkinson:
’For the next quarter of a century there followed a history of non-compliance with the duties imposed by the Act of 1968, marked by a series of High Court decisions holding local authorities to be in breach of their statutory duty, to apparently little practical effect.’
Then in 1994 the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) was passed. The CJPOA 1994 repealed much of the CSA 1968, including the duty imposed on County Councils to provide authorised sites. Though the Section 24 CSCDA 1960 power to provide sites has been retained, central funding for the provision of such sites was withdrawn and with little incentive to use that power the number of local authority sites has fallen. At the same time the CJPOA 1994 gave both the Police and local authorities additional powers to remove Gypsies and Travellers when they park their caravans on unauthorised encampments.
