Gypsies and Travellers will stay on illegal sites, Hill warned

The ODPM has been warned that Gypsies and Travellers will continue to occupy land illegally after it rejected MPs’ recommendations on providing legal sites.

The comments came from Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury and followed housing minister Keith Hill’s rejection of a report by the ODPM select committee.

The report, published on Monday, said a statutory duty should be placed on councils to force them to provide legal sites for Gypsies and Travellers.

But Hill said a duty would not work: “It has been tried before and often did not produce sufficient or appropriate provision.

“A duty that relates solely to the Gypsy and Traveller community reinforces the view that they should be dealt with outside the mainstream housing system,” he added.

However Clive Betts, a member of the ODPM select committee, said: “After hearing a lot of evidence, it is clear that without a statutory duty we’re not going to do anything about illegal encampments. In reality, some local authorities won’t provide sites unless forced to.

“The previous duty [to which Hill refers] failed because it was not enforced.”

Instead, the government is introducing measures in the Housing Bill that will require local authorities to carry out housing needs assessments for Gypsies and Travellers through regional spatial strategies.

Councils will also be required to incorporate the travelling community into their housing strategies.

Hill is due to meet John Wilson, assistant director for Gypsy and Traveller services at Novas Group, the only housing association to own and manage Gypsy and Traveller sites, in the next fortnight. They will discuss the role registered social landlords can play in site provision and facilitation.

Avebury, secretary of the all-party parliamentary group for Traveller law reform (HT 15 October, page 12), said that although the measures in the Housing Bill would create available land for Gypsies and Travellers to buy, they would not ensure that sites were built for those who cannot afford to buy land.

“Keith Hill relies on Gypsies and Travellers being able to buy land that will be designated by local authorities. But there will be a significant percentage that can’t afford to do so. What’s going to happen to those people?

“By refusing to introduce a statutory duty, Hill has removed the safety net that would ensure they don’t continue to occupy illegal land,” he said.

Wilson added: “Without proper sites provided by local authorities, Gypsies and Travellers will continue to be marginalised.”