I want to turn now to the way Part 4 of the Bill deliberately targets Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people. There is a provision in the Bill that turns trespass from a civil into a criminal offence, allowing the police to arrest Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and confiscate their homes, their vehicles, if they stop in places that have not been designated for them. Given that authorised sites and stopping places cannot accommodate the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people who need them, this is a despicable act and a despicable attack on a vulnerable minority. With their homes seized and their parents arrested, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are likely to be taken into care. A coalition of representatives and advocates from and allied with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Wales have stated that the Bill represents one of the most serious threats to civil liberties in recent history, granting sweeping new powers to undermine the Gypsy and Traveller nomadic way of life.

I ask that we listen to these voices. It is our duty as representatives of the people of Wales to do so. This will not only undermine existing Welsh legislation and policy; it is also not supported by the majority of the police. The National Police Chiefs' Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners have said that the lack of sufficient and appropriate accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers remains the main cause of incidents of unauthorised encampment and unauthorised development by these groups. The measures in this Bill fail to deal with that primary issue, namely the lack of appropriate residential transit and residential sites. As we heard from Mark Isherwood, more can and should be done to ensure Welsh local authorities meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient sites and stopping places, rather than criminalise nomadic families in Wales, who are being placed in an impossible position.