§ Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had or proposes to have with public bodies in West Glamorgan about the gipsy problem in the area and what guidance he has given.
§ Mr. Barry JonesDiscussions about the gipsy problem were held in the spring of 1975 between Welsh Office officials and officers of the West Glamorgan County Council and the Swansea City
408Wstrength of the Service are as follows:
Council. A further meeting proposed by the Department has not been accepted by the county council because it feels it would not be beneficial at present while it is studying the possibility of providing a number of gipsy sites in its area. The guidance provided to the council has been consistent with the general advice issued to all local authorities in Ministry of Housing and Local Government Circular 6/62 and in Welsh Office Circulars 22/66, 42/68 and 37/70.
§ Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will grant additional resources to West Glamorgan to assist with the additional social costs made necessary by the presence of gipsies there.
§ Mr. Barry JonesAs announced by the Minister for Planning and Local Government on 26th February 1976, a study is being carried out by the Chairman of the Countryside Commission for England and Wales into certain financial and other aspects of the operation of Part II of the Caravan Sites Act 1968. Consideration of what further arrangements should be made to deal with the gipsy problem must await the chairman's report.—[Vol. 906, c.314, 315.]
§ Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the number of gipsies in Wales and in 409W each of the counties of Wales at the nearest convenient date.
§ Mr. Barry JonesThe most recent estimates of gipsies are those made by the National Gipsy Council in the spring of this year. These suggested that at that time there were approximately 795 gipsy families in Wales, distributed as follows:
West Glamorgan … … … 65 Mid Glamorgan … … … 60 South Glamorgan … … 100 Gwent … … … 120 Clwyd … … … 120 Gwynedd … … … 60 Powys … … … 50 Dyfed … … … 220 These figures are a mean average, calculated from counts made over the last three years.