8 THE POLITICAL DIMENSION
115. In "The Provision and Condition of Local
Authority Gypsy and Traveller Sites in England", resistance
from local residents tops the list of obstacles to site provision,
as it did in the Cripps report on the "Accommodation of Gypsies"
in 1976. Dr Angus Murdoch, from the Travellers' Advice Team at
the Community Law Partnership is not surprised that little has
changed. He commented:
"I think they [Gypsies and Travellers] are
a hidden minority. They are a minority who are socially excluded
from almost all aspects of mainstream life and for whom the majority
of the British public only have contact through hostile media
reports and unauthorised encampments and have very little real
contact."[138]
Many people within settled communities employ Gypsies
and Travellers to do work on their premises, whether that work
be drive laying, tree-topping, or small building work; businesses
also frequently use companies owned by Gypsies and Travellers
for building work, road or car-park tarmac laying. Gypsies and
Travellers are frequently able to offer cheap prices for such
work. The settled community should recognise that Gypsies and
Travellers need somewhere to live whilst undertaking work in an
area.
116. Local authorities hold the key to site provision,
either directly through public site provision - or indirectly
through the planning controls exercised by local planning authorities.
Politicians are accountable to their electorate, and few will
choose to vote for something that their constituents will object
to, for example, provision of a Gypsy site or planning permission
for a private site. The previous chapter explored the difficulties
that Gypsies and Travellers experience when trying to secure planning
permission for a private site. The ACERT report concludes that
"the political dimension relating to private Gypsy site applications
cannot be understated when trying to understand the dynamics that
underpin the decision making process. Intense political pressure
can be applied to and communicated through councillors that is
not necessarily reflected in the final decision."[139]
117. Many Gypsies and Travellers believe that pressure
from the settled community is given more consideration by politicians
than the needs of Gypsies and Travellers. Siobhan Spencer, Coordinator
of the Derbyshire Gypsy Traveller Liaison Group told us:
"[…] a couple of years ago now we gave
a family some advice not to buy land in a certain place. I said,
"If you are looking to buy land, look at this, look at this,
look at this." They took our advice. Let me tell you, there
is nothing wrong with this little bit of land that they bought.
It was perfect. It had got planning permission on it for an office
block and a disabled toilet. We thought, "Great, that is
perfect for the mum" - because we were wanting a disability
block for the old woman - and they failed it. They still failed
it. They fail it because of public opinion. They fail it because
you get perhaps a local council who will fill a hall with 300
people - they rally so many people together that it gets moved
from the council offices and we go to another building because
they have rallied that many people against you."[140]
And the Gypsy Council (Romani Kris) commented:
"Our experience of the planning process
- which stems from our own involvement both in the submission
of individual planning applications and our attending (or furnishing
written statements for submission to) planning appeals throughout
the length and breadth of this country during the past 31 years
- has led us to the conclusion that the issue of whether of not
to grant planning permission to Gypsy sites is very much a political
one, further, one which has over the years led to point the finger
of accusation at the majority of local authorities in terms of
their exhibition of what we can only term the 'political cowardice'
in refusing such planning applications […]."[141]
The Gypsy Council for Education, Culture, Welfare
and Civil Rights blames racism and pressure from the settled community:
"There are a number of factors behind this
appalling imbalance; not least of these is racism. Racism not
only from some of the council members and officers, but from some
of the more vociferous of the settled population who object to
plans and as such put political pressure on the council to refuse
permission."[142]
118. Politicians and local authority officers have
told us that it is difficult to balance the needs of the Gypsy
and Traveller community with the views of the local population:
Councillor Chloe Lambert, Member of Aylesbury
Vale District Council and deputy Chairman of the Local Government
Association Planning Executive: "[…]. If there were
more sites and if local authorities had a duty to provide, I think
it would make the local member's job easier in dealing with adverse
reaction from the settled community. If it were recognised among
the wider public that this is a duty on local authorities then
I think the resistance would be less."[143]
George Summers, Gypsy and Traveller Service Manager
for Hampshire County Council and Secretary of the National Association
of Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officers: "The lack of central
Government overview, places on local authorities the task of determining
provision in their area without central Government directives
to ensure provision may be provided often against electorates
wishes."[144]
119. There is a clear message from local councillors
that they want greater central Government support if they are
to develop Gypsy and Traveller sites. As Pat Niner comments, "there
is also a feeling that providing for Gypsies and other Travellers
is a national as much as a local responsibility which can contribute
to lower local commitment".[145]
120. The Commission for Racial Equality argues that
a duty to provide sites would provide local authorities with the
necessary backbone to avoid political pressure. In addition they
stress the importance of communication, and the role of the media:
"What do we think should be done about hostile
public attitudes? First and foremost, to remove the cause of the
problem which is the absence of sufficient good sites so that
there is not a reliance on unauthorised encampments, which must
be the most significant cause of public concern and hostility,
and suggests that the provision of sufficient and good sites has
to be the first step to resolving the community relations issue.
Secondly, by having a legal requirement to provide sites it ensures
that local authorities will not bow to inappropriate public pressure,
but there is also a role, as in any difficult community or race
relations situation, in the provision of information to the public
in order to defuse misconceptions about the community. There is
role for bridgebuilding and bringing people together to
build understanding between communities and to have great care
in handling press coverage so that we do everything that we can
to avoid inflammatory media coverage of situations which can make
it worse. We need the involvement of local communities in building
bridges with Gypsies and Travellers and also dialogue with the
local press to try to avoid inflaming a tense situation. The fundamental
thing is to remove the cause of the problem.
The National Association of Local Councils adopt
a similar view, arguing that improved communication between local
politicians and members of the travelling community can in turn
improve relations between the settled and travelling communities:
"No one can defend the present state of
affairs where real and perceived discrimination against Travellers
occurs. NALC makes it clear; it supports the principle that to
discriminate against Travellers is unacceptable. NALC goes further
and makes a clear commitment that all of its Member Councils have
a duty to represent, communicate with and serve the Traveller
Community, either settled with its boundaries or temporarily based
within. Where a Traveller Community has a settled or traditional
presence in a First-Tier Councils jurisdiction, we would expect
the Town/Parish Council to act as a funnel of communication and
understanding between communities and to promote the virtue of
participation within the democracy of the Council and the local
settled population's civic endeavours. NALC favours the following
Policy principles as a basis for progress in stimulating improved
relations between Traveller and local communities and bringing
to an end illegal encampment issues: A return to consensus. Taking
forward this issue has become increasing difficult over the last
decade, as the previously existing "political" consensus
has been lost. All sides involved in Traveller issues need to
acknowledge that sites are required, both settled and transit,
that the Planning process needs to accommodate this. National
and local policies should ensure that provision, equality and
enforcement of rights are as important as criminalisation, public
order and anti-social behaviour prevention."[146]
121. Dr Angus Murdoch from the Travellers' Advice
Team at the Community Law Partnership stresses the need for local
authorities to involve Gypsies and Travellers in policy formation
alongside other community members:
"I think we should return to the issue of
being proactive. As I say, we work nationally and we have worked
with very many positive proactive local authorities, for example
South Somerset, in the area where I live, who have invited Gypsies
and Travellers into the policy formation stage, and not just Gypsies
and Travellers but members of the National Farmers' Union, police
officers and all the other interested parties. I think it is only
when you have proactive local authorities like that that real
change occurs at local level."[147]
122. Some witnesses believe Gypsies and Travellers
need a formalised taskforce or commission with powers to identify
suitable land. It is argued by the Gypsy Council (Romani Kris)
that such a group - comprised of ODPM officials, local authority
representative groups and Gypsies/Travellers - would remove the
"political heat" from individual ward councillors.[148]
Many witnesses support formation of such a body:
NAGTO: "The present provision and location
of sites urgently requires an overview from central Government
and could be administered by a body consisting of both Gypsies
and Travellers and local authority representatives to oversee
the provision and location of possible accommodation. This overview
would ensure that sites are correctly managed and located and
also that Government funding is not wasted on mismanagement and
inappropriate locations where Gypsy families would not wish to
encamp."[149]
Angus Murdoch, Travellers' Advice Team at the
Community Law Partnership: "I think a task force is essential
so that the views of Gypsies and Travellers and all the interested
parties are addressed."[150]
Terry Holland, Gypsy Services Manager of Buckinghamshire
County Council: "What we lack I suppose in the jargon word
is joinedup thinking. We need a method of getting information
on national, regional, county and district bases. Some elements
of that are missing. One way of bringing it together would be
through a central group. Our submission relates to that possibility.
To get the accurate information I believe that we would need to
work closely with the Gypsy and Traveller community rather than
from outside the Gypsy and Traveller community looking in. It
cannot be done on its own."[151]
Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London: "[…].
Needs assessment itself could be depoliticised as a process through
the establishment of a national Task Force."[152]
Pat Niner is also supportive, although she believes
the group should be more hands-off than the Gypsy Council (Romani
Kris) would like:
"I think I take the view that such a group
should have an advisory rather than an executive role. I think
that an executive role would confuse things and potentially get
in the way of local authorities, of regional housing boards, or
whoever else is involved in it. What I would like to see is a
group that really acts as a sounding board for government and
local authorities on Gypsy and Traveller matters with a focus
on accommodation but also including things like social inclusion,
education and health, which are part and parcel with accommodation.
I would like them to be able to say, "You are proposing this
sort of legislation in this area. This will have these following
implications for Gypsies and Travellers. Have you thought about
issuing the guidance which would help people to negotiate those
things? Can we suggest that the guidance should take these forms?"
Maybe even have the right to commission pieces of research or
guidance in those terms, to act, as I say, as a sounding board
to make sure that it is properly incorporating the sorts of consultation
that already takes place but in a more formal and a more overt
and a more transparent way. In terms of who should be on it, I
suppose it should be representatives of Gypsy and Traveller bodies,
local authorities and central government but also potentially
people like the CRE. I also think that it could probably be part
of a virtual group rather than a group of people who sit round
a table and actually meet face to face."[153]
123. There is a need for improved communication
between the Gypsy/Traveller and settled communities. Politicians
must play a lead role in furthering this communication. Politicians
must also be prepared to take tough decisions to ensure they address
the needs of all of those for whose welfare they are responsible.
However, we recognise that this will not be easy, and may be more
acceptable within a national framework of required provision.
We welcome the idea of a Gypsy Taskforce to spearhead accommodation
provision, and recommend that the Government takes immediate steps
to create such a group. The first task of such a group should
be to consider the re-introduction of a statutory duty to provide
accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers. In response to this
report we recommend the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister outlines
proposed membership and terms of reference of this group.
138 Q 207 Back
139
ACERT and Toby Williams, Private Gypsy Site Provision, 1999, pg
xii Back
140
Q 78 Back
141
HC 63-iii, Ev 67, [Hughie Smith, President of the Gypsy Council
(Romani Kris)] Back
142
63-III, Ev 90, [The Gypsy Council for Education, Culture, Welfare
and Civil Rights] Back
143
Q 293 [Councillor Chloe Lambert, Member of Aylesbury Vale District
Council and deputy Chairman of the Local Government Association
Planning Executive] Back
144
HC 63-III, Ev 81, [The National Association of Gypsy and Traveller
Officers] Back
145
Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham,
The Provision and Condition of Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller
Sites in England, 2002 , pg 47 Back
146
Ev 85 [National Association of Local Councils] Back
147
Q 205 Back
148
HC 63-iii, Ev 67, [Hughie Smith, President of the Gypsy Council
(Romani Kris)] Back
149
HC 63-III, Ev 79, [The National Association of Gypsy and Traveller
Officers] Back
150
Q 209 Back
151
Q 218 Back
152
HC 63-III, Ev 97 [Greater London Authority, Mayor's Office] Back
153
Q 174 Back
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