Britain’s equality watchdog has launched a formal investigation into Pontins holiday parks due to continued concerns about discrimination against Gypsies and Travellers.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced on Thursday it was taking further action against the owner of the parks following allegations made by a whistleblower last year.
The whistleblower revealed that the company had been using the blacklist of mainly Irish surnames as part of a policy of refusing bookings by Gypsies and Travellers to its parks.
The list was uploaded to the Pontins intranet under the heading “Undesirable Guests”, instructing call handlers that people using these names were “unwelcome”.
Following the claims, Pontins owner Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited entered into a year-long legal agreement with the EHRC, promising to comprehensively address the issues raised by the whistleblower.
But after monitoring the company’s compliance, the EHRC ended the agreement on 18 February.
It announced on Thursday that the firm “had not satisfied the Commission that it was taking the required steps to prevent unlawful race discrimination”.
The Commission has now launched a formal investigation that will consider whether Pontins has committed unlawful acts under the Equality Act 2010.
Marcial Boo, CEO of the EHRC, said: “We...
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