Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to assess the (a) rights of children and (b) the effect on children of the eviction of Gypsy and Traveller communities in his consultation on powers for dealing with unauthorised development.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston on the 7 December 2018, UIN 197400.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Justice, and the Home Office carried out a joint consultation on the effectiveness of powers for dealing with unauthorised development and encampments.

All government departments have an ongoing responsibility to meet the Public Sector Equalities Duty (PSED) under the Equality Act 2010. As such, when formulating any policy changes following the consultation, ministers must have due regard to the three limbs of the PSED: (1) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act, (2) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not, and (3) foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.