§ Sir John Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department's definition of gipsies is confined to genuine romanies or includes didicois and the growing number of scrap metal merchants.
§ Mr. MarksGipsies are defined in the Caravan Sites Act 1968 as persons of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, but this does not include travelling showmen.
§ Sir John Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will undertake to make a census of the gipsy population, in view of the fact that the population of gipsies appears to have nearly trebled in recent years and is continuing to grow.
§ Mr. MarksThe results of previous attempts to take a formal census by means of a simultaneous national count cast doubt on the reliability of this method when applies to gipsies. However, on the basis of information provided from time to time by local authorities and the gipsy organisations, the Department has 213W arrived at an estimate, which it considers to be fairly realistic, of about 8,000 families in England and Wales.