Memorandum by the Greater London Authority
(GLA), Mayor's Office (GTS 46)
I write in relation to your Select Committee
inquiry into Gypsy and Traveller sites. The Gypsy and Traveller
community (both travelling and housed) is substantial in number
in London and is one of the most socially excluded groups in the
country. My duties as Mayor include promoting equality in all
policies and taking account of the needs of all Londoners. The
London Plan provides the basis for investigating the issues facing
Gypsies and Travellers over and above the fundamental questions
of human rights facing this group.
I am aware that the loss of statutory duty on
local authorities to provide sites, combined with particular pressure
on land values in London, has led to a decline in site provision
in London for Gypsies and Travellers over recent years. In response
to this I recently held a seminar in association with the Traveller
Law Reform Coalition to discuss site provision and related issues
of concern to Gypsies and Travellers. A wide range of expert and
representative bodies participated in a very useful discussion,
including many London boroughs, the ALG, the Gypsy Council, the
London Gypsy and Traveller Unit, the Irish Traveller Movement,
Southwark Travellers Action Group, Friends Families and Travellers,
the Commission for Racial Equality, London citizens and others.
Below are listed the main findings of this seminar which I wish
to bring to your attention, since I see regional progress on this
issue very much within the national and local context.
MAIN CONCLUSIONS
OF LONDON
SEMINAR
1. The provision of enough pitches on good
quality sites is fundamental to the continuation of the travelling
life, and the recent decline in sites threatens the way of life
of a recognised minority ethnic community.
2. The issue of site provision for Gypsies
and Travellers is basically one of accommodation and should be
addressed on a par with the housing of the rest of the population,
on the basis of people's rights and responsibilities. The provision
of travellers' sites should be assessed as one aspect within mainstream
housing needs assessments.
3. The shortage of sites has meant Gypsies
and Travellers are forced to use unauthorised encampments, and
the emphasis of the policy agenda has shifted away from rights
and needs towards law and order.
4. There is a need for a national lead and
regional coordination of site provision, to prevent local authorities
fearing that "honeypotism" might follow voluntary provision
under the current regime.
5. Recent legislation has been less than
helpful. The repeal by the 1994 Public Disorder Act of the statutory
duty on local authorities to provide sites (established under
the Caravan Sites Act 1968) should be reversed, with suitable
monitoring of the implementation of this. As points 2 and 3 above
indicate, Gypsies and Travellers should be covered in the Housing
Bill, whereas they are in fact covered only in the Government's
current Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.
6. Gypsies and Travellers suffer discrimination
and harassment additional to their already disadvantaged position
in fields such as health and life expectancy, education and employment.
To compound this, their experiences of social provision in these
fields can also be negative, as can media coverage and widespread
treatment by the police—although there are some exceptions
to this, particularly in terms of good practice by the Metropolitan
Police Service.
7. Good service provision relies on good
needs assessment, which in turn relies on good data. Knowledge
of the size and nature of the Gypsy and Traveller community is
woefully inadequate, at London and national level, and there is
a clear need for good data collection on a consistent and sensitive
basis, for which consultation with the Gypsy and Traveller community
will be essential. Needs assessment itself could be depoliticised
as a process through the establishment of a national Task Force.
At a regional level, I am keen to work with government to provide
a London assessment, within a national context.
I have undertaken to investigate the feasibility,
depending on the availability of data, of setting targets for
site provision for Gypsies and Travellers in London, to form part
of the next review of the London Plan in 2006. In the meantime,
I will ensure that the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers
are considered for Unitary Development Plans (now Local Development
Frameworks) of London boroughs in the context of the existing
London Plan (see London Plan, Policy 3.11)
I support the need for increased central government
funding, to supplement the existing funding stream for refurbishment
of sites, with funding for the creation and management of new
good quality sites, both residential and transit, the latter being
particularly resource intensive to manage.
Specific investigation is needed into the reasons
for the absence of transit sites in London and the extent of past
and future demand for them. Attention is needed to ensure practical
and fair site management structures for permanent and transit
sites. This makes a real difference to the success of sites.
I support the promotion of exchange of experience
and good practice in this field and I am keen to liaise with the
Association of London Government on this and on policy development
in consultation with Gypsies and Travellers. Issues of particular
concern are the promotion of better data recording and monitoring
by London boroughs, on a consistent basis, of Gypsy and Traveller
access to public services; a potential audit of sites; the commissioning
of research on issues of site management in London; and the equal
treatment of Gypsies and Travellers in applications to London
boroughs for planning permission.
I support the establishment of a pan-London
Forum led by representatives of the Gypsy and Traveller community
to progress policy issues of relevance to them, and especially
to raise issues of a moratorium on evictions and the need for
interim measures while proper provision is being set in place.
I have recently written to Minister Yvette Cooper
informing her of these findings in order to feed into the ODPM
policy review on Gypsy and Traveller issues. I am keen to investigate
the position of Gypsies and Travellers in relation to sites in
London in the context of national investigation and have therefore
proposed further investigation of site provision in London in
association with ODPM on the basis of jointly commissioned research.
Given the centrality of site provision to the
continuation of the way of life of Gypsies and Travellers, and
the need for all service provision to take on board the needs
of both travelling and settled Gypsy and Traveller communities,
I would hope that you take account of these findings as part of
the evidence for your Select Committee inquiry into Gypsy and
Traveller sites.
Ken Livingstone
Mayor of London
June 2004
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