Gipsies

HC Deb 08 March 1982 vol 19 cc339-40W

Mr. Shersby

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria were considered by his Department in making designation orders in accordance with the Caravan Sites Act and the Local Government, Planning and Land Act in respect of the London boroughs of Sutton, Wandsworth and Camden.

Mr. Macfarlane

In the case of the London boroughs of Sutton and Wandsworth, that they had made adequate provision for gipsies in the borough; in the case of the

£5 million urban programme allocation for low-cost home ownership schemes 1982–83
Name of authority	Type and location of scheme	Public expenditure allocation £000	Estimated associated private sector finance £000	Proposed sources of private finance
Greater London
London Borough of Brent	Improvement for sale/equity sharing	100	100	Building societies
	Improvement grants linked to schemes for purchase/improvement in HAAs	200	1,200	Building societies
London Borough of Hackney	West bank study area: provision of improvement grants in proposed HAA	65	80	Building societies
	Graham Road study area: provision of improvement grants in proposed HAA	65	80	Building societies
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham	Rolling programme of improvement for sale	200	160 (initially)	Building societies and clearing banks
London Borough of Islington	Improvement for sale in Kings Cross area	190	413	Building societies

London borough of Camden that it was not expedient to provide a site because of the scarcity of suitable land, the high cost of capital works and the small number of gipsies in or resorting to the borough.

Mr. Shersby

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the names of the London local authorities which have received a designation order in accordance with the provisions of the Caravan Sites Act together with details of their quarterly returns for the past year of the number of gipsies residing in or resorting to those boroughs.

Mr. Macfarlane

The following London boroughs have been designated.

• Barking and Dagenham
• Bexley
• Camden
• Croydon
• Enfield
• Greenwich
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Havering
• Islington
• Kensington and Chelsea
• Lambeth
• Lewisham
• Merton
• Newham
• Redbridge
• Richmond upon Thames
• Sutton
• Waltham Forest
• Wandsworth
• Westminster

The half-yearly returns of gipsy caravans cover both authorised and unauthorised sites in London boroughs, and these figures are available in the Library.