12. Memorandum from Friends, Families
and Travellers
Having spoken with lawyers at the Community
Law Partnership in Birmingham, Friends, Families and Travellers
(FFT) would strongly advocate the incorporation of guarantees
of economic social and cultural rights in UK law. In particular
we call for specific mention of the problems faced by Gypsies
and Travellers as one of the most discriminated against ethnic
minority groups in the country.
The specific issues that we are concerned with
relate to:
Discrimination in Employment, Housing and Education:
In particular, legislation around housing is
extremely prejudiced.
We would advocate the use of the term "accommodation"
as opposed to "housing", which discriminates against
those communities who are not part of a sedentary life style.
The "exclusiveness" of this type of terminology impacts
directly on Travellers in particular through local, regional and
national planning policies as well as housing policies.
Travellers resident on local authority sites
are not protected under the Housing Act as are all other council
tenants. They are issued with license agreements that can be terminated
without grounds with 28 days notice with no recourse to appeal.
Not only is this clearly discriminatory, but due to the acute
lack of alternative accommodation provision available to Travellers,
this places residents on local authority sites in an unusually
vulnerable position.
Gypsies and Travellers are defined under statute
as "homeless" if they have no legal pitch on which to
station their caravans/homes. We have argued that where Gypsies
and Travellers are defined as "homeless" as a consequence
of a lack of accommodation provision, the local authority has
a statutory responsibility to "accommodate" them in
a way which is culturally appropriate, ie through the provision
of sites not housing. A Gypsy's cultural aversion to housing has
already been established in case law (Clarke v Secretary of
State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions—2001).
The case of Price v Carmarthenshire County Council has
recently taken this matter forward, but has not sufficiently extended
a duty of site provision.
Faced with the Criminal Justice and Public Order
Act 1994 which criminalises "trespass", many Gypsies
and Travellers have been forced into a constant cycle of evictions,
distressing and harrowing for them, and expensive for the UK tax
payer. Local authorities are reported to spend £18 million
every year on unauthorised camping, and that this is equivalent
to the cost of providing sites ("At What Cost? The economics
of Gypsy and Traveller encampments", Morris and Clements,
2002). This indicates a clear misuse of public money, which runs
contrary to Best Value legislation.
The Advisory Committee, evaluating the adequacy
of implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection
of National Minorities by member states, concluded with regard
to the UK:
"Despite some commendable efforts, the
implementation of the Framework Convention has not been fully
successful as concerns Roma/Gypsies and Irish Travellers, inter
alia, due to the lack of adequate stopping places as well as
the significant socio-economic differences, and differences in
educational levels, between Roma/Gypsies and Irish Travellers
and the remaining populations."
And:
"The Advisory Committee considers that
the lack of available sites throughout the UK is problematic from
the point of view of Article 5 of the Framework Convention . .
. The Advisory Committee therefore considers that the Government
and the devolved Executives should take further steps to ensure
the availability of additional adequate stopping places for Roma/Gypsies
and Irish Travellers."
Travellers are regularly forced to leave unauthorised
encampments in order to avoid a criminal prosecution, either from
the road-side or as a result of refusal and/or breach of planning
permission. In the case of refusal and/or breach of planning permission,
Travellers can and often do face committal proceedings despite
the fact that there is insufficient appropriate alternative accommodation
provision for them.
Recent research by the University of Birmingham's
Centre for Urban and Regional Studies commissioned and published
by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, entitled "The
Provision and Condition of Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller sites
in England" identified the need for an additional 1,000-2,000
residential pitches, and the 2,000-2,500 transit pitches needed
throughout the UK in the next five years to meet the current need.
However, central government has noticeably failed to indicate
how this need will be met.
The unique need of Gypsies and Travellers is
regularly overlooked by public bodies, which fail to recognise
their nomadic existence as a viable way of life, as most legislation
is designed to meet the needs of sedentary society. In particular
we would point to the failure of local authorities (and sometimes
other public bodies, especially the police) in their dealings
with unauthorised encampments, where Travellers face the following
difficulties:
— A failure by the current government
to reinstate a duty to provide sites despite opposing the repeal
of that duty in the 1994 Criminal Justice Act when they were in
opposition.
— Decisions to evict them even when
no nuisance or annoyance is being caused and they are on underused
or disused land and without any alternatives being suggested.
— Local authorities refuse the vast
majority of planning applications from Travellers, which is a
direct contradiction of government guidance, as outlined in Circular
1/94.
We would strongly suggest that there is a need
for a special body to deal with Gypsy and Traveller accommodation
issues, and refer the Commission to the Traveller Law Reform Bill.
The Bill calls for:
Every local authority to provide or facilitate
the provision of suitable accommodation (temporary and permanent)
for Gypsies and travellers
Non Discrimination under an amended Race Relations
Act for Travellers
Housing Corporation Funding and new housing association
powers for Caravan Site Construction
Greater Educational opportunities for Travellers
The issue of "Employment" for Gypsies
and Travellers is intrinsically linked with sites. Traditional
Travellers have a cultural legacy of living and working in their
current place of abode. Site provision needs to be flexible enough
to enable this practice to continue. Scrap metal dealing and horse
dealing are examples of traditional Traveller work, however, restrictions
on sites have often meant that these traditional practices have
not been able to continue. This is an example of the cultural
discrimination faced by the Travelling Community.
"Education"; Though there has been
some breakthrough with the issues surrounding Traveller Education
compared with other issues of access, such as health, the fact
remains that many Travellers do not receive much formal education
after primary level. There are several reasons for this including
instances of bullying, exclusion and the inability to secure school
places due to a lack of site provision. We also deal with many
families whose children are directly affected by withdrawal from
school due to eviction or site closure.
Poverty and Social Exclusion: Despite being
protected under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, Gypsies
and Irish Travellers suffer from some the greatest levels of racism
of any ethnic minority group in the country. The social exclusion
experienced by Travellers, both in terms of the general public
and the provision of statutory services is unparalleled and they
remain one of the most deprived communities in British society.
Reflecting the findings of earlier research, the British Medical
Association states that Travellers are the most at risk health
group. They are also reported to have:
— the highest infant mortality rates;
— the lowest life expectancy;
— the highest illiteracy rates;
— the lowest educational achievement;
— the most racist press coverage; and
— generate the most complaints to the
Commission for Racial Equality.
I have no further comment to make on the Reporting
Process, however, if there are any aspects of this letter that
you would like to discuss then please do not hesitate to contact
me.
24 April 2003
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