§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many affordable homes they intend to provide for gypsies, as part of the £7.4 billion investment in affordable housing conditions referred to in the White Paper Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future; where these homes will be; and whether they consider that the investment in accommodation for gypsies as part of this package will be sufficient to eliminate the necessity for gypsies to camp on roadsides by the end of the year 2005–06. [HL 1556]
§ Lord RookerThere was no funding for gypsies announced as part of the investment in affordable housing referred to inSustainable Communities: Building for the Future. However, a separate budget was announced in July 2000 by my right honourable friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, the then Minister for Housing, Planning and Construction, as part of the Spending Review 2000, that £17 million was to be made available over three years to local authorities for the refurbishment of authorised gypsy sites. The 2003–04 round has been extended to provide funding for local authorities to create new transit sites and stopping places.
This funding, combined with local investment, should begin to alleviate the problem of unauthorised camping for both the travelling and settled communities.