Scottish Government

2. Overall Trends

2.1 Between 2001 and 2008, the winter (January) Gypsies/Travellers population has stood at around 450 households, although slightly higher populations of 525 and 551 households were recorded during January 2006 and January 2007. The number of households recorded in January 2008 was 455, representing a decrease of around 17% (96 households) on the previous year.

2.2 It is estimated that these 455 households are likely to represent a total population of around 1,547 people, accounting for 0.03% of the total Scottish population. This estimate is based on the application of an average household size of 3.4 and discussed further in the later section on Official Sites.

2.3 As can be seen from Figure 2.1 below, the summer population of Gypsies/Travellers is consistently higher than the winter population. In 2005, the summer population of Gypsies/Travellers increased significantly and has continued to rise, with a smaller scale increase in the winter population figures. Therefore, the average gap between the winter and summer populations has widened, to just over 40%.

Figure 2.1: Gypsies/Travellers Population - Summer and Winter 2001 to 2008

2.4 There has been some change to the distribution of the population by type of site. In January 2001, 60% of the total population was to be found on Council/ RSL sites, with a little under a third on private sites (28%) and the smallest proportion on unauthorised encampments (11%). This balance has shifted within the last three years. In January 2006, for the first time a higher percentage (23%) of Gypsies/Travellers stayed on unauthorised encampments rather than private sites (20%). This pattern has been repeated on this latest count, with 61% of households living on Council/ RSL sites, 22% staying on unauthorised encampments and 18% on private sites.

2.5 Since 2001, the number of households living on private sites has varied considerably. While there seems to be a decline in the use of private sites, accurate data available on private sites can be unrepresentative of what is actually happening due to difficulties in collecting the data.

2.6 The number of households using unauthorised encampments during the winter counts has almost doubled since 2001, rising from 56 in January 2001 to 98 in January 2008. This is likely to reflect reluctance to use, or inability to access, other forms of site-based accommodation (official Council/ RSL or private sites).

2.7 The changing trends in the use of different types of site among the winter population of Gypsies/Travellers in Scotland as a whole are illustrated in Figure 2.2. Table 2.1 that follows shows the trends by local authority area from January 2005 to January 2008.

Figure 2.2: Winter Population of Gypsies/ Travellers January 2001 to January 2008

Table 2.1: Gypsies/Travellers Households by Local Authority Area and Type of Site, January 2005 - January 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE
A Estimated households on Council/ RSL Sites
C Estimated households on Unauthorised Encampments
B Estimated households on Private Sites
D Total estimated number of Households

*West Lothian figures are as at January 2007

2.8 At a local authority area level, the largest Gypsies/Travellers population is to be found in Fife, followed by South Lanarkshire and then Perth and Kinross, with 76, 47 and 45 households respectively. These 3 areas account for 37% of all Gypsies/Travellers households living in Scotland as at January 2008.

2.9 As can be seen from Table 2.2 below, there has been a net decrease of -17% in the number of Gypsies/Travellers households present during the winter count since last year. The largest drop in numbers was in West Central Scotland, where the number of households fell from 187 to 93 (-50%). Similarly, a large fall of -35% occurred in the Lothians/Borders area. In contrast, the number of Gypsies/Travellers households increased in both the Highlands, Islands and Grampian area and the Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway area by 38% and 32% respectively.

Table 2.2 Change in Winter (January) Households by Region

2.10 Over the longer term, since 2001 the number of Gypsy/Traveller households present across Scotland at the time of the winter count has dropped by 7%. The largest fall has occurred in West Central Scotland, with a 41% drop in the population. Reductions were also seen in Lothians and Borders (-36%) and Tayside, Fife and Central (-2%). However, contrary to the overall trend, the number of households living in Highlands, Islands and Grampian increased by two thirds, while the number of households present in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway has increased by almost a third. The reasons behind these regional changes are ambiguous. Some possible factors affecting movement may include:

• Availability of safe and appropriate places to stop;
• Changes in council provision and differing approaches to management of unauthorised encampments;
• Seasonal work opportunities may be more forthcoming in some localities than others;
• Family and personal reasons, such as disputes, illness and bereavement, education, as well as traditional associations to a particular area.

Figure 2.3: Distribution of All Households and Gypsy/Traveller Households January 2008

2.11 The Gypsies/Travellers population (approximately 1,547 people) makes up about 0.03% of the total Scottish population (approximately 5,116,900 people). Compared to the Scottish population as a whole, the winter population of Gypsies/Travellers is distributed throughout the country in a slightly different way to the rest of the Scottish population. The largest proportion (38% of the total Gypsy/ Traveller population) can be found in the Tayside, Fife and Central area and the second highest proportion is present in the Highlands, Islands and Grampians region (22%). The largest proportion (36%) of the wider Scottish population lives in West Central Scotland, with the second highest proportion (20%) to be found in Tayside, Fife and Central Scotland.

2.12 The differences in population and distribution are likely to be accounted for by fewer Council/ RSL pitches or opportunities to form encampments in the urban centres of large cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh. They may also be due to the traditional patterns of travel among Gypsies/Travellers who often choose to return to the same sites year on year. Another factor may be the quality of the relationships between Gypsies/Travellers and the local settled population in different areas.