Guidance for managing unauthorised encampments - Chapter 2: local strategies

All local authorities are encouraged to develop their own written strategies detailing how they will respond to unauthorised encampments. This will help all those involved have a clear understanding from the very outset of how such encampments will be handled by local authorities.

It should be recognised that unauthorised encampments may increase during the summer months as families travel. To ensure a respectful and effective response to any unauthorised encampment, it is recommended that all local authorities have a proactive strategy in place ahead of this period, particularly where local authorities can reasonably anticipate when and where such encampments are likely to occur. The strategy should include planned interventions that prioritise welfare considerations and enable timely, coordinated action.

When developing a strategy, it is important for each local authority to seek input from Gypsies and Travellers as well as their local communities. It is particularly important to recognise the distinct experiences and needs of children and young people within Gypsy and Traveller communities. Expanding the engagement element to explicitly include their voices ensures decisions reflect their lived experiences. This approach strengthens safeguarding and supports a more inclusive and responsive strategy.

When developing local strategies, it is also essential that local authorities clearly distinguish the respective roles of partner agencies. Unauthorised encampment strategies should not position the police as the lead agency. Police involvement should be sought only where appropriate and necessary, in line with National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) guidance, particularly where criminality, safety concerns, or other policing thresholds are met. This ensures that local authority-led responses remain welfare focused and proportionate. 

Below are a list of issues which would be useful to include in each authority’s written strategy for dealing with unauthorised encampments:

Local strategy checklist

1. Governance and leadership

• Appoint a Lead Officer or Single Point of Contact (SPOC).
• Establish a multi-agency strategy working group with adequate resources.
• Develop a governance structure for oversight and monitoring.
• Ensure trained, trusted, and appropriate people are available to conduct 
  welfare assessments.
• Ensure trained individuals are available to negotiate agreements, such as a Code of Conduct for an authorised encampment or temporary stopping place.

2. Engagement and inclusion

• Develop the strategy with Gypsy and Traveller people.
• Ensure consultation mechanisms include children and young people.
• Involve advocacy groups, community cohesion officers, and local councillors.
• Provide cultural-awareness training for staff.
• Provide a contact number for families to contact the local authority in advance if they know they need to temporarily reside within their area for a short period.
• Provide a named contact and telephone number for people travelling through or to the area.

3. Strategic alignment

• Align the response to unauthorised encampments with other relevant strategies: site provision, planning, health, education, housing.
• Review GTAA data, bi-annual caravan counts, and recurring encampment patterns to anticipate where and when unauthorised encampments are likely to occur.
• Include local site information and current service provision.
• Include contacts in health and education who can assist if needed.
• List places where green waste can be taken for recycling.

4. Operational protocols

• Describe typical response processes to unauthorised encampments.
• Outline response options and enforcement triggers.
• Include site assessment and welfare assessment templates.
• Clarify roles and statutory responsibilities of all involved parties.
• Set out arrangements for any bins or toilets to be supplied.

5. Information sharing and communication

• Establish protocols for inter-agency communication and data sharing.
• Include a decision matrix to guide consistent and transparent actions.
• Create a protocol for informing neighbouring authorities and regional coordination.
• Publish the strategy on the local authority website and share with grassroot organisations who can share with the Gypsy and Traveller community.

6. Monitoring and review

• Set up systems to monitor, evaluate, and review actions taken.
• Capture lessons learned and integrate them into future strategy updates.

7. Community impact and safeguarding

• Ensure the strategy supports the safeguarding of all those affected and minimises public nuisance.
• Promote a person-centred approach that balances the rights of Gypsies and Travellers with those of the general public.
• Include temporary/negotiated stopping agreements where appropriate.

The main objectives for each strategy should be to:

• eliminate or minimise problems by effective advance planning
• avoid a reactive response
• ensure that the needs and rights of all parties, Gypsies and Travellers, landowners, and the settled community, are considered
• set a framework within which clear, consistent, and fair decisions can be made in a transparent manner
• clearly link the response to unauthorised camping to other strategies and policies affecting Gypsies and Travellers (site provision, planning, health, education, housing etc.)
• involve all those with an interest in the process of developing the strategy
• clarify local authority roles and responsibilities, setting out who has responsibility for each stage of the process and the identity of the persons who will make the important decisions
• limit any public nuisance, taking effective enforcement where necessary and appropriate

Taking the lead

It is recommended that local authorities formulate a clear governance strategy to deal with unauthorised encampments which provides for adequate oversight and monitoring of outcomes.

In the case of any unauthorised encampment on land owned by a public body other than the local authority in which it is situated, the local authority should still lead the response to the encampment in order to fulfill their statutory duties in relation to the health, social care, housing and education needs of their residents. The local authority is also under a duty to secure adequate transit accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers resorting in their area and is therefore best placed to make arrangements to relocate unauthorised encampments to a suitable location. The local authority should communicated with the relevant public body land owner throughout as required.

Any required enforcement action will be taken by the landowner, not the local authority.

Local authorities may wish to consider the following main stages when producing their strategy:

• Appointing a lead officer or (SPOC).
• Setting up a strategy working group, with adequate support/resources and ensuring important players are involved and liaison with other relevant services.
• Providing cultural-awareness training for important workers
• Setting up consultation procedures/mechanisms.
• Ensuring alignment and consistency with other strategies.
• Reviewing information obtained from the local authority’s assessment of needs.
• Planning new services/improving existing services, through joint working where appropriate.
• Monitoring/evaluating/reviewing the local authority actions taken and ensuring lessons are learnt where applicable.

Who should be Involved?

While local authorities should take the lead in the development of their strategy, it is essential that other relevant stakeholders are involved in the process and are willing to comply with the strategy when it is implemented. Securing commitment among stakeholders is an important part of the strategy building process.

Securing participation from the local health board, Gypsies and Travellers themselves as well as advocacy groups who support them, community cohesion co-ordinators, community safety officers, and local councillors responsible for Gypsy and Traveller encampments, will strengthen the local authority’s ability to respond effectively to any given situation. Other organisations, such as Natural Resources Wales, may also need to be involved in this multi-agency way of working when the circumstances are appropriate.

Local authorities should also consider working on a regional basis to help ensure that their approach to unauthorised encampments and site provision is consistent to that taken across the rest of Wales and that best practice is shared.

There are a number of elements that may be included in the local authorities strategy, for example:

1. Local information on which the strategy is based, for example, the GTAA, the bi-annual caravan count data, local figures for unauthorised encampments (including police figures if helpful) and any information on recurring encampments.
2. Information on the current level and locations of local authority permanent mobile home sites.
3. The typical approach to be taken when informed of an unauthorised encampment, including the appointment of a lead officer or SPOC.
4. Engagement with the Gypsy and Traveller community on their experiences of an unauthorised encampment.
5. The protocol for the sharing of information with other agencies and for contacting/involving/informing other relevant agencies. Information will not be shared without the individual’s informed consent.
6. The approach to be taken when entering an unauthorised encampment, setting out the roles and statutory responsibilities of all involved and the welfare assessment to be undertaken.
7. An outline of the range of responses open to a local authority to an unauthorised encampment and an explanation of likely action to be taken in certain scenarios
8. A protocol for informing neighbouring authorities of unauthorised encampments and any action which may be taken on a partnership basis.

The Welsh Government will work closely with local authorities to support in the implementation of this guidance. The way in which unauthorised encampments are managed by local authorities will be kept under review by the Welsh Government to ensure best practice is shared and to assess whether the guidance needs up-dating.

Overall, developing a local strategy for responding to an unauthorised encampment can help reduce community tensions by providing a clear, consistent, and proportionate approach. Adopting a person-centred approach enables local authorities to ensure that the needs of both the settled population and Gypsy and Traveller communities are considered when deciding how to respond to such an encampment.