§ Sir Hugh Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce his conclusions on the review of gipsy sites policy carried out at the request of the Select Committee on the Environment.
§ Mr. RidleyThe review has now been completed. A consultation process has been carried out and I have been assisted in analysing the responses by Professor Gerald Wibberley CBE, to whom I am most grateful, and whose report will he published. The Government have decided that there should be no amendment of the legislation at this stage, although we shall continue to keep the position under review. We have noted the wide acceptance that the duty on local authorities to provide caravan sites for gypsies should continue. No practical alternative solution to the problem has been proposed, although there is some scope for private sector provision, which will be encouraged. In all cases it is essential to do everything possible to allay local anxieties. Well-run gypsy sites, once established, seldom give cause for serious complaints.
The total number of local authority sites had reached 236 at the beginning of 1986, affording a total of some 3,850 pitches. Further local authority sites have recently opened or are expected to open. In addition to these, the available information suggests that privately owned sites are capable of accommodating 2,000 or more gypsy caravans. This shows that much progress in site provision has already been made, nationally. But there remain perhaps as many as 3,000 gypsy families for whom authorised sites are not available: so more sites are still needed. A total of £5 million has been reserved in the current financial year to provide grants to authorities developing sites.
There has been criticism of the controls available in designated areas. The Government see the powers stemming from designation as an essential adjunct to the duty to provide sites but recognise their serious consequences for gypsies. It is important that the criteria for designation should be strictly applied. In particular, I 857W require convincing reasons for designation where an authority has made less than adequate provision. The machinery for considering applications for designation is being updated to ensure that representations are fully taken into account.
Authorities with early aspirations to designation are also asked to recognise the desirability of keeping more frequent records of gypsy numbers and movements than the national returns can provide.
Proper identification of the number of gypsies who reside in or resort to an area is vital. I am arranging for the gypsy sites policy branch in the Department to be strenghthened. An early priority will be to examine how information on gypsy numbers could be improved to provide better targets for site provision and better measures of progress in meeting them. The Department will continue to help undesignated authorities to clarify the number of sites needed and within what time scale.
Interpretation of the statutory definition of gypsies is also crucial. The local authorities have generally been able to decide who meets the statutory definition but there is increasing concern that it may extend to members of other groups. Each case has to be looked at separately on its merits. In order to qualify it must be shown that there is a nomadic habit of life, that a pattern of residing in or resorting to a particular area has been established, and that the requirement is for a pitch for a caravan. A sensible approach would be to look for evidence of regular and repeated patterns of gypsy movements, bearing in mind also their characteristic types of occupation and their need to travel to carry on their work. We shall examine the scope for further clarification of this issue in advice to local authorities.
The scope for improvements in the grant regime is limited since it already meets 100 per cent. of the cost of site provision. It has been suggested that grant should be freed from capital expenditure control but the Government cannot agree to this since it weakens control over spending priorities. I accept, however, that the Department's cost guidelines should be published and I will arrange for this to be done. They will continue to be revised annually.
It has proved difficult to find satisfactory solutions to the problem of long-distance and regional travellers. Progress continues to depend on the willingness of local authorities to find suitable locations for stopping places which can be designed to simpler standards than the settled sites needed by more locally based gypsies.
There are possibilities for accommodating gypsies in conventional housing. Information from a departmental study of the opportunities for housing suggests that, allowing for the numbers who return to a travelling life style, there are some gypsies (perhaps 75 families a year) who adapt successfully to conventional housing. The Government believe that conventional housing, on a selective and voluntary basis, can contribute usefully to meeting the needs of gypsy families and I am arranging for the departmental research to be published as a guide to local authorities.
Private sites for gypsies already make a substantial contribution: probably more than 2,000 caravans are on private sites at present. The need for gypsy sites will continue to be a material consideration when local authorities or the Secretary of State arc considering planning applications or appeals. I urge gypsies to recognise the importance of getting planning permission 858W before purchasing land and to co-operate with district councils to identify sites which might be suitable. In turn I hope that district councils will recognise, as some have already done, that their development control policies need to take account of the serious need for gypsy sites. It is not intended to widen the Exchequer grant scheme to include private sites, but there are already experiments on sale or leasing of Exchequer grant-aided sites to private ownership or management. Such initiatives will be encouraged.
Much progress has been made, but the main task remains the provision of properly serviced sites as quickly as possible. The Government believe that this is the most important contribution that can be made to resolving the difficulties that can arise between gypsies and other sections of the population.