§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What discussions took place between the Housing Corporation and the Government Office for London, in the drafting of the London Housing Statement 2000, in the context of the Green Paper Quality Choice: A Decent Home for All, on the need for additional homes in Greater London for gypsies and other travellers; and what information they have about the number of such homes that would be provided within the net additional 381,000 dwellings potential for the period 1997–2016, indicated in the London Planning Advisory Committee's 1999 Housing Capacity Study. [HL1277]
§ Lord WhittyNo discussions took place between the Government Office for London and the Housing Corporation prior to the London Housing Statement on the need for additional homes in Greater London for gypsies and other travellers.
However, the Housing Policy Statement in December 2000 announced that the Government will be commissioning research into site provision and assessing the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers across the country. This research will also look at the extent to which the housing needs of gypsies are covered in the housing needs assessments undertaken by local authorities. In addition, the Government have announced a Gypsy Site Refurbishment Grant of £17 million over three years to refurbish existing local authority gypsy sites and to help keep open the existing network of over 300 sites.
The London Planning Advisory Committee's 1999 Housing Capacity Study examined residential dwelling capacity but did not investigate the capacity to provide sites for gypsies and other travellers.