UN calls for repeal of eviction powers against roadside camps in PCSC Act 2022

Today, the United Nation’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published its official recommendations to the UK government, including calling for the repeal of section 83 (eviction powers against roadside camps) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSC Act).

These recommendations reflect the written evidence to the CESCR made by Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) alongside Roma Support Group (RSG), Gypsy and Traveller Empowerment Hertfordshire (GATE Herts), Kushti Bok, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches, Traveller Movement, Leeds GATE Gypsy and Traveller Exchange and York Travellers Trust.

Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) and Roma Support Group (RSG) also submitted oral evidence in Geneva last month, on the rights and experiences of Romany, Traveller and Roma communities in the United Kingdom, with support from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Key recommendations by the CESCR for improving the lives and experiences of Romany, Traveller and Roma people, call for the UK government to:

• • • “…Review and repeal laws or policies that undermine…traditional ways of live, such as Section 83 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which criminalises unauthorised encampments in England and Wales, and the Unauthorized Encampments (Northern Ireland) Order 2005”;
    • “Ensure adequate, culturally appropriate accommodation and stopping places for Gypsy [and] Traveller communities, including access to water, sanitation and electricity, in coordination with local authorities…”;
    • “…Remove stigma, informational and technological barriers to access to health for Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities…”;
    • “Ensure that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children…have access to quality education that is culturally appropriate and adapted to their needs”;
    • “Prevent and combat discrimination, racism, stereotypes and inequalities faced by…Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers…by implementing targeted awareness-raising campaigns and affirmative action measures in areas such as decent work, social security, adequate housing, healthcare, and education, to ensure that all persons fully enjoy Covenant rights without discrimination.;
    • “Enhance gender-responsive budgeting to guarantee women’s equal access to employment, social security, healthcare, education, and decision-making roles in both the public and private sectors, with targeted measures for…Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller [women]”.

The recommendations echo the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’s previous recommendations in 2024, which also called for the repeal of section 83 of the PCSC Act 2022.  The CESCR highlighted clear concerns regarding the rights and experiences of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people:

“The Committee is concerned about persistent barriers to culturally appropriate [accommodation] for Gypsies…and Travellers…(art. 11). The Committee is concerned about…persistent obstacles faced by Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller children…in accessing education, without discrimination…”

Policy and Research Coordinator at FFT, Victoria Gilmore, who also made an in-person submission alongside RSG’s Mihai Bica and FFT’s Ivy Manning, said:

“We welcome these formal recommendations by the CESCR, and call on the UK government to urgently implement them—this is not the first time a United Nations Human Rights Committee has called for the repeal of section 83 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, and action is now long overdue.

We will continue working closely with our partners across the sector to hold the UK government to account.” 

 

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About Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT)

Friends, Families and Travellers is a leading national charity that works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life.

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Additional Resources

Summary record of the 7th meeting. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. February 2025. Read.

Submission for the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the implementation on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Friends, Families and Travellers. January 2025. Read.

Written evidence for the 2023 Pre-Sessional Working Group Report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Friends, Families and Travellers. January 2023. View.