Summary of Report and List of Recommendations
Summary
S1 This is the report of the ninth Advisory Committee on Scotland's Travelling People. The report was written in the knowledge that this was likely to be the last Committee. It therefore covers not only the most recent term of office (1998-99) but also the wider context of the work of previous committees.
S2 Section 2 sets out the background to the establishment of the first Committee in 1971. Research showed that Travellers were living in difficult conditions and were encountering increasing difficulty in finding stopping places. This led to the setting up of the Development Department's grant scheme which provided local authorities with the capital costs of building sites for Travelling People (initially 75% increased to 100% in 1980). This grant scheme is now being wound up. The first Committee was also appointed to act as a focal point for the consideration of the welfare of Travellers.
S3 One of the main roles of the Committee has been to advise Scottish Ministers on the setting of targets for the provision of pitches in local authority areas. These pitch targets have been linked to the policy of toleration and non-harassment of Travellers (this states that where there is a shortfall in provision for Travellers, as measured against pitch targets, unofficial encampments should not be moved on).
S4 The Committee has always provided advice about Scotland's traditional Travelling People. The Committee has recognised the existence of a much larger group of Travellers who have settled in houses. No reliable estimate of the number of housed Travellers has ever been made and the Committee would question the practicability of so doing. It should also be noted that the Committee's remit has never been extended to include New Age Travellers or Travelling Showpeople.
S5 Section 3of the report summarises the development over the years of sites for Travellers. The Committee has offered detailed advice and support to authorities committed to developing sites and to meeting targets for the provision of pitches in their areas. The Committee has published guidance notes on site location and design and on site management. Throughout successive terms of office, the Committee has always recommended that sites in private ownership, which specifically provide pitches for Travellers (as opposed to holiday sites) should be counted as contributing to meeting the pitch target.
S6 The Committee has also been disturbed to note that a small number of sites have been empty for long periods. The problem appears to lie with a small group of anti-social Travellers who have intimidated site residents and emptied the sites. The Committee recognises the difficulties facing local authorities but sees it as a problem of management and close co-operation between the Travellers, local authorities and the police.
S7 The Committee has also considered the issue of temporary stopping places for Travellers. Some groups speaking on behalf of Travellers have called for the development of 'transit sites', stopping places provided with access to water and toilet facilities. The Committee has always had strong reservations about transit sites both on the grounds of value for money and in relation to the difficulties in managing them. Other ways of catering for short-term need have been advocated, in particular the potential role of farmers in making temporary stopping places available in connection with seasonal work, or through European agricultural grant schemes.
S8 In Section 4 the Committee addresses the issue of 'the right to roam'. It has been claimed that Travellers are nowadays denied their traditional rights. The Committee believes that Travellers never did have a 'right to roam' but that they planned their journeys and visited known areas regularly. The Committee recognises that in the pre-war years Travellers did appear to have 'the freedom of the road' but that the changing pace of life and increased urbanisation has changed this. In reality there are fewer roadside places for Travellers to stay. The Committee believes that Travellers have the right to stay somewhere but not the right to stay everywhere.
S9 In Section 5 the Committee discusses the policy of toleration and non-harassment. The Committee notes that there has been much misunderstanding about the policy and it has been claimed that it is discriminatory. The Committee has been at pains to point out that the policy applies only to the physical occupation of land and that it was initially fought for by Traveller representatives to prevent the situation where Travellers were being constantly moved on. The Committee recognises that with the ending of the grant scheme both the pitch targets and the toleration policy are no longer sustainable. It has therefore looked to a replacement for the toleration policy. During the Committee's term of office, guidance on unauthorised encampments has been provided in England and Wales. The issues involved are very similar to those facing Scottish local authorities and the Committee therefore recommends that they be adapted for use in Scotland, and gives guidance accordingly.
S10 In Section 6 the Committee considers some basic principles in approaching the assessment of Traveller needs. It begins by considering the issue of the ethnic status of Scotland's Travellers. The Committee has noted that there are many conflicting views on this subject, for example, on the one hand there is a belief that the confirmation of such status would derive benefits to the community; on the other hand there is a fear that it would drive a wedge between the travelling community and the settled community. The Committee has therefore not come to any conclusion regarding ethnicity but has recommended that Travellers should be given the same rights as other members of society. The Committee has stressed that discrimination against any group in any form is to be deplored.
S11 Travellers are not one homogeneous group with one distinctive lifestyle and set of values. They tend to be individualistic with a distrust of authority. They have no tradition of electing a spokesperson or a single representative body to act on their behalf. Notwithstanding this, the Committee believes that it is important to obtain the views of Travellers and to make effective face-to-face contact with them.
S12 In Section 7 the Committee has considered the accommodation needs of Travellers and recommended that they should be taken care of through the statutory and community plans.
S13 The Committee and its predecessors have also been concerned about access to health and education services. Working Groups within the Committee were set up to investigate these topics in depth and their findings and recommendations are set out in Section 8 (Health) and Section 9 (Education).
S14 The Committee has been concerned to establish a base of information about Travellers. In Section 10 it refers to two precis of research which were commissioned by the Development Department on behalf of the Committee *. The Committee has also been instrumental in arranging for a twice yearly seasonal count of the numbers of Travellers on local authority, privately owned sites and roadside encampments. This commenced in July 1998 and the Committee believes it is essential that this be continued and the results disseminated to those responsible for planning for Travellers.
S15 In Section 11 the Committee discusses consultation undertaken during its term of office. It met frequently with voluntary bodies and statutory agencies with an interest in Traveller matters. The Committee notes that it has been difficult to achieve a satisfactory working relationship with some elements within the voluntary sector who used the consultation process to pursue a narrow agenda.
S16 During 1999 the Committee began a process of consultation about the way ahead. It examined a number of scenarios regarding a replacement for the setting of pitch targets and the policy of toleration and non-harassment and the Committee itself. The Committee reached a provisional view on all of these matters and consulted on these during the latter part of the year. In Section 12 the Committee reports that there was no consensus as to how pitch targets and the toleration policy should be replaced. The Committee also felt that the debate about any replacement for the Committee was overtaken by the Scottish Executive's proposals for achieving social justice in Scotland and promoting greater equality of opportunity for all. The Committee therefore re-considered its views and its final recommendations are set out on the following pages.
Notes
* 1 A survey of local authorities providing sites for Travelling People
2 A survey of Traveller's views.
Recommendations
In light of the winding up of the Development Department's grant scheme for local authorities to build sites for Travellers, the Committee recognises that pitch targets and the policy of toleration and non-harassment of Travellers are no longer tenable. The Committee recommends that in their place:
- the future needs of Travellers should be addressed as part of the process of community planning and preparing relevant statutory plans;
- local authorities and other agencies should agree procedures to deal with unauthorised encampments.
The Committee also recognises that this is likely to be the last term of office and believes that the Scottish Executive's commitment to social justice and mainstreaming for all sections of the community should provide a forum for encompassing Travellers' needs in the future.
The Committee has also made the following specific recommendations:
Pitch Targets and Non-Harassment Policies ( Section 5)
1. Methods outlined in this report of dealing with unauthorised encampments should be adopted by local authorities throughout Scotland.
2. Guidelines should be produced separately and made available to all those agencies handling unauthorised use of land by Travellers.
Assessing Traveller Needs ( Section 6)
3. The Advisory Committee's view is that Travellers must and should be seen as valued members of society and given the same respect, rights and freedoms as any other member of society. Discrimination against any group in any form is to be deplored.
4. In terms of community planning and the active citizenship agenda, monitoring procedures are required to evaluate how Travellers are being fairly represented.
Accommodation ( Section 7)
5. The need for Traveller site provision should be a requirement for local planning authorities and be included within relevant statutory plans.
6. Travellers themselves, should be consulted about their accommodation needs as part of any assessment.
7. Local authorities should strive within their allocation policies to reflect the particular needs of Travellers to prevent their lifestyle disadvantaging their right to decent accommodation.
8. Travellers' individual lifestyle and requirements should be reflected in a sympathetic management regime for any accommodation occupied.
Health ( Section 8)
9. Creation of local forums in each Health Board area should be encouraged, allowing health professionals and other agencies with a responsibility for Travellers, to disseminate information. These should initiate health needs assessments and co-ordinate responses to health needs for the Traveller community within their Health Board area.
10. Registration with a primary care practitioner at the Travellers most frequent place of residence should be encouraged.
11. Travellers should be encouraged to take up 'visitors' rights' of access to a GP while travelling.
12. Primary Care practitioners should aim to have similar targets for immunisation and screening tests for Traveller families as those targets set for the general public.
13. It should be noted by Primary Care providers and community dentists that children often miss school screening projects and dental care due to their travelling lifestyle and appropriate measures should be taken to overcome such omissions.
14. Information about the range of health care and dental services should be circulated to families in a form appropriate to their individual circumstances.
15. Positive action is required to ensure that Traveller families enjoy equal rights and access to the same healthcare facilities as other groups within the total population.
16. Health providers should initiate mechanisms to identify, give advice on and monitor particular patterns of illness within the Traveller community.
17. Traveller family-held health records should be established throughout Scotland.
18. There should be a named contact, ideally a Health Visitor, for Travellers registered at Primary Care centres.
19. The health needs of elderly and disabled Travellers should be addressed as a matter of urgency.
20. Key workers should have awareness-raising training in Traveller cultural values.
Education ( Section 9)
21. Local authorities should identify the positive steps they have taken through the current high profile initiatives to address the particular needs of Travellers.
22. Schools with a regular enrolment of Travellers should take active measures to seek the understanding and co-operation of Travellers in securing better attendance patterns.
23. All local authorities should be asked at regular intervals, as part of the ethnic monitoring process, to provide evidence of action taken to include Travellers in education within their area. This aspect should also be included in the proposed inspection plans for local authorities.
24. Local authorities and schools should be specific in their plans on how they intend to ensure inclusion, increased attendance and achievements for Travellers.
25. Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools should include monitoring of Travellers' attendance and achievement routinely in all school inspections. The development of suitable Traveller related Performance Indicators should be developed, possibly with the involvement of the Scottish Consultative Council for the Curriculum (SCCC) and the Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP).
26. It is imperative that local authorities make overt inclusion of Travellers and their particular educational needs in their action plans and objectives-setting exercises.
27. Local authorities should develop plans and implement actions to ensure that Traveller pupils enjoy their right to a place in schools and that due account is taken of their personality, talents and abilities in achieving their full potential.
28. Local authorities and others in partnership with Traveller communities should set specific targets to ensure a shared commitment to improve the situation of Travellers in education.
29. Openness and accountability must be key factors in the process of auditing learning needs and monitoring the effectiveness of any action taken.
30. Local authorities should monitor the enrolment and attendance patterns of all Traveller children within their area on a regular basis.
31. Schools and local authorities should review their practices with regard to Travellers' safety and enjoyment in participation in the school environment.
The Information Base ( Section 10)
32. With regard to the seasonal count of Traveller numbers and site occupancy in Scotland the Committee recommends that:
i) local authorities undertake the survey in January and July each year;
ii) the Scottish Executive takes responsibility for administration of the seasonal count;
iii) the Scottish Executive makes resources available to ensure that the data collected through the surveys is processed and made available to all local authorities, statutory and voluntary agencies working with Travelling People in Scotland; and
iv) as results become available from more counts, the emerging data is analysed and interpreted on a long term basis rather than just by individual counts.