§ 79. Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what consideration has been given to the paper sent to him by the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Dodds) on the short and long-term problems presented by the gypsies and other travellers; and what action he proposes to take to deal with the present unsatisfactory situation.
§ Mr. CrossmanI am grateful to my hon. Friend for having sent me this paper and agree that we need to know more about the extent of the problem. A census has recently been carried out by the Kent County Council and I shall shortly be asking other counties to do the same. I am also arranging for a special survey in depth to find out more about the needs of these people. I am satisfied that more sites must be provided quickly and am now consulting the local authority associations about the best means of achieving this.