Demands for legislation on Travellers

Holyrood asked to replace softly-softly approach with tough new laws.

A growing catalogue of unpunished Traveller-related crime has sparked demands for tough new powers to clamp down on illegal encampments.

Councils, police and other bodies are being swamped by despairing members of the public aggrieved at seeing their communities overrun without action being taken.

Most complaints made to the authorities over the past decade outline instances of aggression, anti-social behaviour or roadside fly-tipping.

However, evidence of black market trading, land being destroyed, and even the dumping of human waste have also been reported. Yet little can be done, with police limited by centuries-old legislation and guidelines that advocate a presumption against prosecution of Travellers.

Now politicians are calling on Holyrood to introduce new powers to deal with the problem amid accusations many Travellers appear “above the law”.

Lindsay Roy, Labour MP for Glenrothes, said: “The Scottish Government takes too much of a ‘softly-softly’ approach to Travellers at a time when we must be more robust. We need immediate action in terms of new or improved legislation. A different set of rules and laws seem to apply to the travelling population than apply to the rest of us. It’s just not right; it’s a travesty of justice.”

He added: “I’ve witnessed first-hand the professionalism of the police dealing with Travellers within the limited powers that they have. Now they need extra help.”

Last week The Sunday Post revealed millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash is being spent dealing with camps with five unauthorised sites springing up across Scotland every week.

New figures obtained under freedom of information show councils have been hit with 1,452 complaints about Travellers or requests to move caravans on since 2004. Of the 22 councils that released data, Moray received the highest number with 297, including 33 from people demanding anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) be handed out, followed by West Lothian with 280. Officials in Highland were asked to remove illicit camp sites by members of the public 153 times, with 11 visits to court to evict Travellers.

But despite the complaints across the country, in total only 334 groups of Travellers have been forcibly removed by local authorities through the courts over the past decade, and only three ASBOs have ever been given.

Over the period, councils have also shelled out at least £520,000 to clean-up rubbish left behind by Travellers. However the figure is likely to be far higher since only 14 of the 32 local authorities were able to provide data.

Documents from the Forestry Commission (FC) also outline a catalogue of complaints about roadside camps, with at least £15,365 spent by the agency dealing with the problems in the past decade.

At one site in Fishnish, Argyll, officials reported: “Up to 11 caravans, complaints from locals about litter, human waste. Legal process instigated and removed after 6-8 weeks. Considerable clean-up.”

Notes for a visit to a camp at Broadford, on Skye, in 2009, stated: “Car park and footpaths blocked, Travellers confronting FC staff, dogs running loose deterring public and FC staff gaining access to site and rubbish.”

The Forestry Commission spent £2,237 in legal costs removing Travellers from the scenic recreational car park and picnic site at Loch Linnhe in 2006, while Rentokil was brought in at a cost of £1,000 to the taxpayer to help clean a site in the Nevis Range in 2005. Another report for problems in Lochaber stated: “Caravans parked in lay-bys for over a month. Fly-tipping and using a footpath as a toilet.”

Mr Roy said: “We’re seeing harassment, aggression and constant fly-tipping. At times when Traveller groups arrive it’s like mob rule.”

The Sunday Post has unearthed evidence of internal frustration felt by local authority staff that they are not able to take tougher action against problem Travellers.

Responding to Mr Roy about concerns over black-market activities in Fife, one senior trading standards officer said there was “a problem with door-step crime”.

In a letter from September 2012, he added: “It is generally accepted that some of these people come from the Travelling community. Unfortunately it is very difficult to take enforcement action against people who have no fixed abode.”

Last week we revealed as much as £4,800-a-day is now being plundered from the public purse to deal with Travellers in Scotland. An estimated £14m has been spent since 2004 as councils and other agencies struggle to cope with the Traveller population, with most of the money used in failed attempts to stop them setting up home illegally.

But prominent Travellers insist their community is being “demonised” and wrongly portrayed as a problem.

Author Jess Smith, who has penned books on Traveller heritage, said: “We have to look at society as a whole, not just Gypsy/Travellers. For one, I simply do not believe that when Travellers are in the area that petty crime rises.

“You just have to look at the settled community where young people drink excessively, fight up and down high streets and fill A&E departments at weekends. Surely that is much more damaging to society than Travellers?”

She added: “There is also evidence it’s not true Travellers who are causing the problems but foreign immigrants mimicking our lifestyle.”

Officials at the Scottish Government said the guidelines issued by the Lord Advocate had been reviewed twice since 2004, but would be examined again in the autumn.

A spokesman said a national Gypsy/Traveller site working group was also created in January to consider the issue of unauthorised sites. He said: “We are keen to facilitate dialogue between all the parties involved and to promote the spreading of good practice, so that the most effective approaches can be used across the whole of Scotland.”

Police Scotland was unable to provide figures for crimes committed by Gypsies/Travellers saying it would cost too much to retrieve the data under the Freedom of Information Act.

However, a spokesman stressed councils have the “statutory authority” to deal with the handling of Traveller sites and said officials are “content” there are already sufficient powers at their disposal. He added: “We have confidence in the democratic process within Government to drive legislative change where that is needed.”