§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he plans to conduct regular counts of gipsy families and their caravans; and, if so, how frequently.
(2) why district councils and London boroughs have been advised to refrain from giving undue publicity to the precise date of the proposed census of gipsy families and their caravans.
§ Mr. MarksWith the agreement of the local authority associations, the Department asked district and London borough councils to carry out on 12th July 1978 (or as close to that date as possible), and thereafter at six-monthly intervals, a count356W of gipsy caravans in their area. This puts on a uniform and country wide basis the counts which many authorities already carry out. It was suggested to councils that, because of the known sensitivity of gipsies to any form of official survey, they might with benefit refrain from giving undue publicity to the precise date of the count. The count of caravans was not, as has been widely alleged, either a census or secret.
§ Mr. Warrenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if Her Majesty's Government intend to make grants available for either capital or maintenance costs to local authorities for the establishment of sites for gipsies as recommended in the Cripps report.
§ Mr. MarksI would refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr. Ward) on 19th July.