§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now make an order bringing Part II of the Caravan Sites Act, 1968 into operation.
§ Mr. GreenwoodYes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I intend, in the very near future, to make an Order bringing Part II into force in England and Wales with effect from 1st April, 1970. We trust that local authorities will now go ahead and provide sites for gipsies as quickly as possible. We shall be issuing a circular of advice and will shortly be consulting the local authority associations about it.
We pay tribute to the hon. Member for Orpington (Mr. Lubbock) and other hon. Members for the considerable contribution they have made towards finding a solution to this problem.
I very much hope that the gipsies themselves will respond to this step by making a real effort to avoid the damage to amenity which at present sometimes results from their stay on unauthorised sites.