Pontins has been served with an unlawful act notice by the Equality and Human Rights Commission after an investigation found multiple instances of race discrimination against customers who were Irish travellers.
The EHRC found that the holiday park operator, owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey, had committed several clear breaches of the Equality Act. These included creating a list of common Irish surnames labelled as “undesirable guests”, and instructing Pontins employees to decline or cancel bookings made under those names.
Pontins also instructed call centre staff to listen for Irish accents to identify Irish travellers and decline their bookings. Irish travellers and their associates were labelled “undesirables” and staff maintained a list banning people Pontins suspected of being Irish travellers.
The holiday parks also introduced rules requiring guests to appear on the electoral register, a practice found to be discriminatory against gypsies and travellers, who are less likely to be on the register.
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The discriminatory practices were originally revealed by a whistleblower, who shared the list of “undesirable guests” with the EHRC in 2020.
In 2021, the equality watchdog entered into a legally binding agreement with Pontins to end the practices and prevent further race discrimination.
However, the EHRC terminated the agreement in 2022 and launched a formal investigation, after Pontins failed to comply with the agreement’s terms.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, EHRC chairwoman, said: “Our investigation into Pontins uncovered flagrant breaches of the Equality Act 2010. Their business practices demonstrated shocking overt race discrimination towards Irish travellers and there was a culture of denial.
“We remain deeply concerned about these discriminatory practices. They were instigated and supported by senior managers and their leadership failed to take any action or accept corporate responsibility. Such unlawful and discriminatory behaviour is completely unacceptable, and it must never be tolerated.”
The EHRC report said Pontins did not fully comply with the legal agreement or action plan. “It demonstrated a lack of genuine engagement with the process,” it said.
“Pontins’ own investigation and report submitted during the legal agreement claimed that the list was not used for a discriminatory purpose. Pontins refused to acknowledge that the list was used to discriminate against Irish traveller guests and their associates. It maintained the List was to stop ‘troublemakers’ from booking, following an incident at the Southport resort in April 2015.
“This was not true. It conflicts with Pontins’ latest representations to the investigation, which acknowledge that the list was discriminatory.”
The EHRC investigation concluded that Pontins must:
- Apologise to and engage with the Gypsy and Traveller community, acknowledging corporate responsibility and committing to a zero-tolerance approach to race discrimination
- Monitor booking cancellations and failures in order to identify future or remaining issues
- Review and update their policies and procedures to ensure they are not discriminatory
- Develop and deliver training for all Pontins staff, including equality training around their legal duty to not discriminate
- Remove terms that stipulate electoral roll checks.
Chris McDonagh, campaigns officer at Friends, Families and Travellers, said: “It is deeply saddening that Irish Traveller people have become so used to hate and prejudice that the Pontins ‘blacklist’ did not come as a surprise.
“Whilst we are certain that Pontins are not the only ones operating such discriminatory policies, we welcome the EHRC’s investigation and commend the whistleblower’s principled stance. Everyone deserves to live free from hate and prejudice.”
By law, Pontins must produce an action plan by 9 April 2024 showing how it intends to meet the recommendations. The action plan is enforceable in court under section 22 of the Equality Act 2006, with criminal sanctions for failure to comply.
Britannia Jinky Jersey said in a statement: “We are in the process of reviewing the unlawful act notice and investigation report from the EHRC.
“The specific incidents reported by the EHRC are historic issues predating 2018. The call centre where the incidents took place has closed and the majority of the staff involved have now left Pontins.
“We apologise to all who may have been affected. Pontins is committed to ensuring ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010.”
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