Social workers urged to help tackle impact on Gypsy and Traveller families of tougher eviction laws

Social workers have been urged to help tackle the impact on Gypsy and Traveller families of increased police powers to evict them from unauthorised camps, brought in this year.

Practitioners from the communities have produced a guide to carrying out welfare enquiries to help social workers and others support families affected by the measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

The Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Social Work Association (GRTSWA) said provisions (see tougher eviction powers box) to criminalise residing on land without consent and give the police greater eviction powers risked increasing existing vulnerabilities.

“We believe that the powers in the Police Act will reduce opportunity and create further deprivation for some of the most marginalised and vulnerable groups in Britain,” says the guide, written by GRTSWA member Dan Allen, principal lecturer in social work at Liverpool Hope University, with the support of the association.

Welfare enquiries ‘not routinely carried out’

Government guidance from 2006 requires councils to carry out welfare enquiries before evictions take place, to identify “pressing needs”, potentially leading to evictions being delayed while these needs are addressed. The police are also required by separate guidance, issued this year, to ensure that welfare enquiries are carried out and councils are involved as soon as possible.

The GRTSWA paper says that councils and the police “do not routinely ask about these matters, or delay enforcement actions until a welfare enquiry has been conducted”.

There is also no existing guidance for carrying out these enquiries, which Allen said has often resulted in miscommunication between the public services involved and inconsistent implementation.

“Most existing forms that could be used to guide and inform a welfare enquiry are not fit for practice, and no good practice guidance exists that could be used to understand how best to co-ordinate a full and accurate welfare enquiry,” the paper adds.

The guide, which is supported by the British Association of Social Workers, is designed to fill this gap, and includes two forms for practitioners carrying out enquiries to use. The first is designed to collect information on how the eviction would impact on family life and, should this unearth significant welfare considerations, the second form would be used to carry out a more detailed assessment.

While designed to be used by a wide range of professionals, Hulmes said social workers were particularly suited to carrying out the more detailed assessment.

‘You’re constantly living in anxiety’

The guide, which was informed by the contribution of four people with experience of eviction, highlights the widespread inequalities Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families face in relation to health, mental health, life expectancy and welfare.

Analysis of the 2011 Census found Gypsy and Traveller families had the lowest proportion of any ethnic group in rating their health as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ – 70%, compared with 81% on average –  and the lowest proportion who were economically active (47% compared with a 63% average).

Hulmes said these issues would be exacerbated by an increase in evictions.

Allen described some families “being woken up at two o’clock in the morning by bailiffs banging on the side of their trailers with barking dogs, forcing them to move on”.

“You’re constantly living with the anxiety of waiting for someone to come in and move you on, and not knowing where you’re going to go or whether you are going to be safe,” Hulmes added.

Reflecting this, the guidance places an emphasis on working with families empathetically, compassionately and inclusively.

“We know that families choose to live on the roadside because there is no other alternative,” said Allen.

“They are living somewhere without access to fresh running water, basic amenities, the sorts of things that you and I might take for granted.”

Take-up of guidance

So far, the guidance has been adopted by Wiltshire council and the Welsh Government.

Mark McClelland, Wiltshire’s cabinet member for transport, waste, street scene and flooding, said the authority had been working with a local charity to complete welfare enquiries and was committed to “empowering people to live full and healthy lives, and that includes people that may be temporary residents in our county”.

The GRTSWA has also been working with National Police Chiefs Council lead for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities Janette McCormick, to spread knowledge of the guide among the police.

McCormick said the police had a responsibility to uphold the law in a way that took into account individual and specific needs.

“It is widely recognised that Gypsy, Roma and Travellers are some of the most marginalised in society and can be subject of significant prejudice,” she added.

“How we police has a significant impact on their trust and confidence in us, and that is the same across all public services.”