House of Commons - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions

Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Written Evidence

Memorandum by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Traveller Law Reform (GTS 33)

KEY REQUESTS

1. A statutory duty on local authorities to provide and facilitate sites for Gypsies and Travellers.

2. Improved tenure for Gypsies/Travellers living on local authority sites in line with those enjoyed by residents of mobile park homes.

3. Housing Corporation money to be made available for Gypsy/Traveller site construction.

4. An increased budget for the Gypsy Site Refurbishment Grant.

5. A clear obligation on Housing Authorities to undertake a periodical review of housing needs including an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies/Travellers.

THE ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP FOR TRAVELLER LAW REFORM

The mission statement of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Traveller Law Reform is to:

"Raise the social inclusion of the Gypsy/Traveller community and improve relations between the Gypsy/Traveller and settled community".

The members of the group feel that addressing the accommodation needs of the Gypsy/Traveller community is a key component in achieving this goal.

1. CURRENT PROVISION

1.1 Research for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister "The Provision and Condition of Local Authority Gypsy and Traveller Sites in England" by Pat Niner of the University of Birmingham in 2002 demonstrated that there was a need for the provision of between 2,000 and 2,500 additional transit pitches and between 1,000 and 2,000 additional permanent pitches by 2007. We are now two years into this date and little headway has been made, the Government now has only three years to meet these demands, there is hence a need for decisive measures.

1.2 The Government is proposing to introduce a new planning framework in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill. In January 2004 in the House of Lords, Lord Rooker Minister of State at the ODPM, indicated that if a Local Development Document (LDD) does not contain provision for Traveller accommodation which is compatible with the assessed need, the Secretary of State can direct the local authority to modify the document and can instruct the local authority to undertake a revision.

1.3 When the duty contained within the 1968 Caravan Sites' Act was repealed in 1994, it was replaced with Circular 1/94, which was supposed to lead to a situation where local authorities would assist Gypsies/Travellers to purchase their own land and develop sites. This Circular has dramatically failed, in part because some local authorities have developed a strict and rigid set of criteria, which thwarts the attempts by many Gypsies/Travellers to obtain planning permission.

1.4 It is evident therefore that unless there are strong safeguards in place local authorities will again attempt to avoid assisting Gypsies/Travellers because of their fear of local opposition from the settled community. It is the considered opinion of many with extensive experience on this issue that there is a pressing need for the Government to introduce a duty on local authorities to provide and facilitate sites to accompany, support and strengthen the other mechanisms it is proposing for the delivery of sites. A duty would create another sanction to be used against recalcitrant authorities, send out a clear and direct message to local authorities and give them a further justification for embarking on site provision in the teeth of possible local opposition.

1.5 The Commission for Racial Equality has drafted a clause to the Housing Bill calling for the establishment of such a duty. This is supported by a range of organisations including the Local Government Association, National Farmers Union, Margaret Wood (Chief Constable) on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Shelter, Children's Society and Traveller Law Reform Coalition. Such a diverse range of groups agreeing on a central point such as this must surely make a compelling case for the introduction of a duty. However, it should be noted that such is the strength of feeling for the need for a duty by key stakeholders such as local authorities as represented by the LGA, that failure to introduce a duty in spite of the provision of other delivery mechanisms for sites will lead to those mechanisms being undermined, as the perception will be that without a duty proposals will be weak and flawed. Such a scenario will send out a damaging signal to local authorities.

2. DEMAND FOR AND USE OF SITES

2.1 The Niner report (2002) suggests that there is a large and at present unmet demand for pitches, the figure could be even greater. Gathering data on the Gypsy/Traveller community by virtue of their nomadic nature is notoriously difficult, there is a general perception that the biannual counts are not always rigorously or scrupulously carried out.

2.2 A broad range of accommodation types for Gypsies/Travellers will be required including residential and transit and public and private provision. As with the settled community the preference of many Gypsies/Travellers is for private provision, this is also to the advantage of the tax payer. However, the vulnerable, young families and those residing in urban areas will still have great need of public provision.

2.3 With regards to demand we are keen to bring to your attention some information on one particular point of view that contends that a very large number of Travellers are coming from the Republic of Ireland and making planning applications in the UK.

2.4 Lord Avebury has been informed by Dr Donald Kenrick, a planning expert, that estimates from his own data suggest that last year there were perhaps 150 planning applications to local councils, 95% of these were refused of which approximately 120 went on to appeal. Of these under a half (51) were given permission. Dr Kenrick is concerned that in some circles an unsubstantiated and false perception has circulated that there has been an increase in demand for private sites/unauthorised encampments because of a large influx of Travellers from Ireland. Dr Kenrick estimates that one third of the families involved in planning applications were Irish, the rest were Romany Gypsies. Regarding the Irish Travellers the vast majority were born in the UK or have lived here since they were children. Kenrick feels the truth of the matter is that the pressure from the police and local authorities on unauthorised sites is such that even the long distance Irish Travellers are buying land where at least their elderly and sick can live in peace.

3. FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS

3.1 Following the Cripps Report in 1980 a 100% grant was introduced for site construction, it proved to be a great incentive for local authorities to develop sites and its phasing out by the previous Government is one factor that has created the present shortage. We would like to see equally generous sources of funding introduced to provide sites, one welcome possibility would be for Housing Corporation funding to be made available for site construction. We are pleased to note that the Government has indicated its sympathy for this proposal.

3.2 £8 million has been made available for the fourth round of the Gypsy Sites Refurbishment Grant in England. In view of the poor state of repair of some local authority sites (Niner 2002, pages 19 and 20) and fact that the Government is also allowing local authorities to apply from this fund for the construction of transit sites we are compelled to call for a major increase of funding in this area. We greatly hope that in the next spending round the Treasury will be generous in this policy area and we would like to remind the Treasury that as part of its Child Poverty Review one of its recommendations was that Gypsy/Traveller accommodation should be mainstreamed.

4. SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE FACILITIES PROVIDED

4.1 We are concerned about the fact that a large number of local authority sites occupy highly marginal space and that the facilities on many sites are limited and even in a poor state of repair. Not only does this pose a series of important health and safety questions but raises serious concerns about Gypsies/Travellers' sense of belonging to the wider community.

4.2 We are also concerned about the lack of empowerment and sense of ownership Gypsies/Travellers have on these sites, they possess limited tenure, which in some cases can mean that in spite of living on a site for 20 years they can be given as little as 28 days notice to leave a site. Few Gypsies/Travellers are involved in decision making forums. This disempowerment extends to their sites where few are engaged in decisions that affect the running and management of these.

4.3 We strongly recommend giving Gypsies/Travellers the same security of tenure as that enjoyed by residents of mobile park homes. We also wish to see initiatives supported and sponsored by the ODPM to promote and establish residents' associations on sites and greater participation by Gypsies/Travellers in decision making forums. Gypsies/Travellers should also be more actively involved in the design of sites.

5. THE MANAGEMENT OF UNAUTHORISED ENCAMPMENTS

5.5 Under section 175(2) of the Housing Act 1996 a person is homeless if they have accommodation, but it is a movable structure and there is nowhere where they can place it, this means therefore that Gypsies/Travellers on unauthorised encampments are homeless. The Homelessness Act 2002 gave local authorities a duty to develop strategies by July 2003 to make sure they have sufficient accommodation for everyone who is homeless. Research by Lord Avebury found that 70% of local authorities with unauthorised encampments did not refer to Gypsies/Travellers in their strategies. The Government must take action to rectify this situation.

5.6 Regarding the new ODPM guidance on unauthorised encampments we are pleased to note that all public authorities must take account of "humanitarian considerations" before considering eviction and local authorities are recommended to introduce frameworks connecting their approach to unauthorised encampments to other policies which impact upon Gypsies and Travellers such as education, planning, site provision, health, education and housing.

5.7 However, we wish to express concern at the continuing lack of transit and residential pitches, which has a negative impact on the management of unauthorised encampments. A generous funding mechanism is required that will give local authorities the incentive to create such sites but also transit sites that contain good not minimal facilities and have management systems that ensure they are well ordered and maintained.

6. ODPM STATISTICAL INFORMATION ON CARAVANS, SITES AND FAMILIES

6.1 The biannual counts system of caravans is notoriously inaccurate, we wish to see a greater element of scrutiny of this process one possibility is for local authorities to work more closely with local Gypsies/Travellers in gathering this data this may overcome some of the traditional fears this community has in divulging data to local authority officials. The January 2004 count figures have been published, and they are summarised for England as follows:

Unauthorised Local authority Private Total

January 2004 3,571 5,848 4,890 14,309

January 2003 3,028 6,160 4,761 13,949

6.2 At this rate, the unauthorised sites will continue to increase indefinitely, as we have warned Ministers consistently would happen, since the proceedings on the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, because the growth in the number of Gypsy/Traveller households outpaces the provision of private sites, while the number of local authority sites continues to decline. Partly this is due to the transfer of local authority sites into housing association ownership, which ought to be recorded.

6.3 Lord Avebury believes we should know how many families are switching from caravans to settled accommodation and back again year by year. There is anecdotal evidence that some people do this because the "hassle" of living a nomadic life has become much worse in recent years, and we now have an emerging picture of the Gypsy/Traveller population living in houses from the Vulnerable Children Grant applications, though as far as Lord Avebury is aware the DfES do not produce statistical summaries of this information.

6.4 On the 19 May in an adjournment debate initiated by John Battle MP, Yvette Cooper MP, Under Secretary of State at the ODPM, stated:

"the level of unauthorised encampments over the past few years has stayed broadly stable, but the level of unauthorised developments has increased significantly".

The count treats as "unauthorised" all caravans, which have not been given planning permission, whether on the occupier's land or someone else's. Where the land belongs to the occupier, there used to be a category of "tolerated" site, where although planning permission had not been granted, the local authority didn't feel that the breach was above a certain undefined level of severity, and they were not going to take any immediate enforcement action. Lord Avebury feels it would be useful to know year by year what number of caravans under the "unauthorised" heading fell into this category.

6.5 The Government is proposing to incorporate Gypsies/Travellers into an accommodation needs assessment. We hope that this data gathering exercise will also have safeguards to ensure accuracy, this is of paramount importance as the data gathered will help establish the targets for site provision on a regional level. It would also be beneficial if such data could also be used to build up a detailed health profile of this community.

Subsequently we wish to see the Government amend the Housing Act 1985 s8 (obligation to undertake periodical review of housing needs) so that:

(1) Every local housing authority shall consider housing conditions in their district and the needs of the district with respect to the provision of further housing accommodation, including accommodation to meet the needs of Gypsies/Travellers.

6.6 This amendment has been promoted by the CRE, it will clearly oblige Housing Authorities to consider the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers, in addition to policy guidance advising them to do so (PPG 3). This will ensure an adequate needs assessment is carried out, on which provision will be based.

7. CONCLUSION

7.1 We recommend the ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee to visit sites as part of their investigation. An excellent gate keeper for such a visit would be the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit, they provide welfare/community services for a range of sites including unauthorised and local authority sites in Hackney, Newham and Haringey and have organised visits in the past for the Institute for Public Policy Research and for Yvette Cooper MP, Under Secretary of State, at the ODPM.

7.2 In 1994, the Caravan Sites Act 1968 was repealed by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The Labour opposition opposed this Act. They were right to do so. The present failed policy regime has had a negative impact on the health of the Gypsy/Traveller community and increased the number of unauthorised encampments, which has caused inconvenience for the settled community. Relations between the settled and the Gypsy/Traveller community have inevitably deteriorated as a result.

7.3 It is time that the Government addressed the issue of Traveller accommodation. Such action would bring benefits to both Gypsies/Travellers and non-Travellers. It would contribute significantly to ending the spiral of hatred in which the Gypsy/Traveller community finds itself in. It is certain that the additional pressures placed on the Gypsy/Traveller community—including the increased demand for settlements and the use of unauthorised pitches—are causing trouble. The all-party group perceive action by the Government as presenting real benefits for Gypsies/Travellers and non-Travellers alike.

7.4 John Battle MP, an active member of our group, summed up our collective sentiments in the adjournment debate that he led on the 19 May 2004 on this subject, when he stated

"The Government have a responsibility not to push the problem on to local councils, which then push the conflict into the surrounding neighbourhoods, while hoping that it is somehow magically resolved. We need to come up with a solution from which both Travellers and local residents benefit. We need to give Travellers accommodation, which means proper sites, with the same status as housing, so that it is assessed and delivered in the same way. That could be twin-tracked with a statutory duty to provide and facilitate more site provision. There should be a proper obligation on local authorities to provide and facilitate sites, and we should allow Housing Corporation money to be used for the purpose of constructing new sites, as my amendments suggested. In the words of the Traveller law reform coalition, we need to work for `a win-win' situation from which Travellers and non-Travellers will benefit".

Kevin McNamara MP

Chair—The All Party Parliamentary Group for Traveller Law Reform

MPS /PEERS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP

Labour

Diane Abbott

John Battle—Treasurer

Harry Barnes

Karen Buck

Martin Caton

Anne Clwyd

Harry Cohen

Jeremy Corbyn