§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which London boroughs have(a) fulfilled the requirement of the Caravan Sites Act, (b) been granted a waiver from those requirements under his authority and (c) received his Department's grants in respect of each site; and which schemes are still being considered by him.
§ Mrs. RoeThe London borough councils have a duty under section 6 of the Caravan Sites Act to provide sites for gipsies residing in or resorting to their area. At 1 January 1988 the following London boroughs had provided sites for gipsies:
- Barking and Dagenham
- Bexley
- Bromley
- Croydon
- Ealing
- Enfield
- Greenwich
- Hammersmith and Fulham (jointly with Kensington and Chelsea)
- Haringey
- Harrow
- Havering
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Kensington and Chelsea (jointly with Hammersmith and Fulham)
- Kingston-upon-Thames
331 - Lambeth
- Lewisham
- Merton
- Newham
- Redbridge
- Richmond-upon-Thames
- Southwark
- Sutton
- Tower Hamlets
- Waltham Forest
- Wandsworth
The Secretary of State has no powers to exempt authorities from their duty to provide sites. The power to do so originally contained in the Caravan Sites Act 1968 was repealed by the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980.
I will write to the hon. Member about Exchequer grant for gipsy site schemes.