Slightly lost in the shuffle among the sector's wide list of recent initiatives is the issue of illegal traveller encampents. Bob Neill says new thinking and firm action is required stem the problem

The Government has a lot on its plate at the moment; that much is obvious. Credit where credit is due, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has pressed on undeterred, unveiling a series of important and necessary domestic reforms in recent weeks, from tackling homelessness to boosting social housing. True, a number of these have received criticism for not being as ambitious or far-reaching as some might have originally hoped, but compared to the preoccupation with Brexit with which many of its Whitehall counterparts remain (quite understandably) bogged down, MHCLG's commitment to stick to a positive, proactive legislative agenda should be welcomed.