Legislation relating to Gypsies and Travellers - An Overview
 

• 1968 Caravan Sites Act
• 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
• Planning Circular 1/94
• Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition
• ODPM Policy Review
• Housing Act 2004 and Planning Act 2004
• Circular 1/06

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1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act

With the introduction of this Act in 1994 the Conservative Government repealed the 1968 Act and removed the obligation on Local Authorities to provide sites. They wanted to see more sites provided by the Gypsy and Traveller community themselves. Along with this they made it illegal for Gypsies and Travellers to stop on ground that wasn’t a licensed site. This at a time when legal site provision was declining and the numbers of Gypsies and Travellers was increasing!
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Planning Circular 1/94

Along with repealing the 1968 Act the Conservative Government issued circular 1/94. This planning guidance was intended to make it possible for more private site provision. However, the guidance of this Circular was again largely ignored by Local Authorities and also the guidance in the circular made it very difficult for Gypsies and Travellers to gain planning permission for sites. Under this circular more than 90 per cent of Planning Applications submitted by Gypsies and Travellers were refused as opposed to only 20 per cent of applications submitted by the settled community.

The effects of these two policy initiatives by the government in 1994 resulted in much confusion and indeed chaos within the Gypsy and Traveller communities as they tried in vain to provide sites for themselves but finding it increasingly difficult if not nigh on impossible to meet the very strict and prohibitive criteria within the 1/94 circular.

This resulted in the increased number of illegal sites which began to appear throughout the country. These illegal sites can be classified into two categories;


1. Illegal Encampments – when a site was set up on public or private land not owned by the Gypsies or Travellers.
2. Unauthorised Development – when Gypsies or Travellers bought their own land and developed a site without planning permission. They would then seek retrospective planning permission for the site. However, while some were granted permission the majority of such sites were refused.

The increasing number of such sites at times brought the local settled community and the Gypsy and Traveller community into conflict. At the same time the Local Authorities were pursuing policies of enforced evictions whilst still refusing to provide alternative sites. This resulted in families been evicted from sites and been moved on but with no where to go they were forced to reoccupy other land. And thus the cycle went on for over ten years until the present initiatives were introduced by the government.
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Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition

With the formation of the G&TLRC the efforts to effect change in the law and in policy took on a new impetus as for the first time ever the various Gypsy and Traveller groups united to campaign for Law Reform. The Coalition lobbied for the introduction of the Traveller Law Reform Bill which had been drafted by the Cardiff Law School. The main tenet of this Draft Bill was the reintroduction of the Statutory Obligation which existed under the 1968 Caravan Sites Act.

The Government realised that the situation for Gypsies and Travellers was not acceptable and that efforts were needed to address the growing problem of illegal site provision. At the same time the government had commissioned research into the provision and standard of sites. This research was undertaken by Pat Niner at Birmingham University. The findings of this research showed that there was a huge need for increased site provision and it estimated that there was a national short fall of up to 5000 pitches. These the report suggested would need to be provided over the five year period up to 2010 and that those pitches would only address the shortfall based on the numbers of 2004!
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ODPM Policy Review

As a result of the campaigning of the G&TLRC and the Niner Research findings the government undertook a Policy Review of Gypsy and Traveller issues. This Policy Review took place over 2004/5. The findings of the Review were never made public. The government did not agree with the call for the reintroduction of the Statutory Obligation. This was despite the fact that practically every group and organisation Gypsy and Traveller and non Gypsy and Traveller including the ODPM Select Committee on Traveller Law Reform believed that that was the best and only effective way to address the short fall. Instead the government introduced the following new Statutory and policy developments in answer to the growing crisis.
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Housing Act 2004 and Planning Act 2004

Under the provisions of this Act an obligation has been placed on Local Authorities to Asses the Accommodation Needs of Gypsies and Travellers in the same way that it does for the rest of society. Having carried out its Needs Assessment each Local Authority will provide the Regional Planning Body with the results. The Regional Planning Body will then decide the total need for the region. This will then have to be incorporated into the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and a specific number of pitches will be decided and included into the RSS. The RSS will then specify how many pitches each Local Authority will have to provide. The Local Authority will then have to identify land suitable for development as sites.
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Circular 1/06

This Planning Circular replaces circular 1/94. The guidance set out in this new circular aims to make it easier for Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords and private individuals to provide Gypsy and Traveller sites. The most important aspect of this new Circular is the inclusion of a new definition of Gypsy and Traveller.

“Persons of nomadic habit of life whatever their race or origin, including such persons who on grounds only of their own or their family’s or dependants’ educational or health needs or old age have ceased to travel temporarily or permanently, but excluding members of an organised group of travelling show people or circus people travelling together as such”.

This circular also calls on Local Authorities to consider the current situation of families who are occupying illegal sites and where the LA has no alternative site provision. In such circumstances it may be necessary to leave the family on the site until suitable provision is made. This temporary permission should especially be granted where the site is not in any substantive way impacting on the local community or surroundings.
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