By William Warnes, PA
Pontins has apologised to Irish Travellers after an investigation found practices aimed at barring them from its holiday parks.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) served the holiday park operator with an unlawful act notice in February for engaging in what the watchdog described as “shocking overt race discrimination” towards Irish Travellers.
The apology is the first stage in the company’s one-year action plan which has been launched with the EHRC to tackle discriminatory practices.
The investigation, which was published earlier this year, found Pontins had been involved in 11 unlawful acts and uncovered “company systems and practices” aimed at barring Irish Travellers from its holiday parks between 2013 and 2018.
Breaches of the Equality Act included creating a list of common Irish surnames labelled as “undesirable guests”.
The commission said staff were instructed to decline or cancel bookings made under those names, and that call centre staff were told to listen for Irish accents to identify Travellers and decline or cancel their bookings.
A “banned guest” list was also found to be in place, containing people Pontins suspected of being Irish Travellers and their associates, such as family or friends.
Pontins, owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, also brought in rules requiring guests to appear on the electoral register, which the commission said was a discriminatory practice against gypsies and travellers, who are less likely to be on the register.
A spokesperson for the company said on Monday that it would like to “reiterate our apologies” and admitted its refusal to allow guests to stay at its parks “was clearly wrong”.
The statement said: “On behalf of the owners, directors, senior managers and all of us here at Pontins, we would like to reiterate our apologies regarding the serious issues raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their report.
“In particular, we want to apologise directly to the traveller and gypsy community.
“The refusal to allow guests to stay at our parks because we suspected they were Irish Travellers was clearly wrong.
“We accept the serious nature of the issues raised in the report.
We deeply regret any distress caused, particularly to members of the traveller and gypsy communities who have been directly affected.
“Working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission we are fully committed to ensuring ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010, implementing a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination of all forms and to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all of our guests.
“We have reviewed the points raised by the EHRC and have developed and entered into a one-year action plan, that will be monitored by the EHRC, to ensure ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010.”
The action plan, which will be monitored by the watchdog throughout its implementation, will introduce a “zero-tolerance approach to discrimination”.
This will include monitoring booking policies, the introduction of a whistleblower plan and engagement with Traveller communities.
The requirement to be on the electoral roll has also been dropped, and a commitment made not to reintroduce it.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the EHRC, responded to the apology on Monday: “Race and ethnicity should never be a barrier to going on holiday.
“Pontins has today apologised to the Irish Traveller community it discriminated against and has begun work to introduce strict safeguards and guarantee a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination.
“I hope those affected are reassured that when the EHRC find evidence of such flagrant discrimination, we act to hold those responsible to account.
“The wider holiday sector should ensure that their policies and procedures do not breach Equality Law.
“Our investigation report recommended removal of electoral roll terms and conditions across the sector.”
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