A Senedd Committee is urging the Welsh Government to remedy the lack of progress and improvement of Gypsy and Traveller sites in Wales.
The Local Government and Housing Committee’s latest report finds that there has been ‘very little to no progress’ in the provision of new Gypsy and Traveller sites or how existing sites are maintained since their last report on the issue.
No improvement of wide-ranging failures
In August 2022, the Committee’s report found wide-ranging failures by the Welsh Government and local authorities in providing adequate sites with many situated in inappropriate areas, such as at the side of dangerous roads with no facilities for children or the elderly.
And despite many previous commitments made by the Welsh Government to improve the situation, this has not translated into any meaningful changes for families.
For this inquiry, many people living on Gypsy and Traveller sites told the Committee that the poor condition of local authority sites damages their physical and mental wellbeing.
They reported widespread disrepair and described constant issues with pollution and rat infestations. Unlike on a council estate, where there is a maintenance schedule and programme, that is not the case with local authority owned traveller sites, leading many to accuse local authorities of allowing sites to deteriorate.
The Committee is calling for the Welsh Government to work with local authorities to improve maintenance of sites and to explain what it will do to deal with local authorities that continue to fail to do this.
John Griffiths MS, Chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee, said, “It is very disappointing to see that two and a half years on from our last report on this issue, very little to no progress has been made by the Welsh Government and local authorities in on the ground improvements.
"We heard that the persistent neglect of Gypsy and Traveller sites by local authorities in Wales has led to significant physical and mental health issues among their residents, due to widespread disrepair and pollution. Making people live in these conditions is unacceptable and it is shocking that we are hearing the same complaints that we did in 2022.
“It’s clear that some local authorities are not doing the bare minimum to maintain sites, and seem disinterested in maintaining good relations with the Gypsy and Traveller community. This needs to change urgently.
“We’re calling for the Welsh Government to set out how it will deal with local authorities that continue to neglect their duties in providing adequate and safe sites for families, and urgently start work on their commitment to help those seeking to develop private sites.”
Prejudice and racism
The Committee’s 2022 report found that a lack of political will was a significant reason for the inadequate number of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Wales, and that widespread racism and prejudice - including from councillors – was often a determining factor.
Today’s report reiterates these concerns and describes how Gypsies and Travellers feel animosity towards them from wider communities and from local authority officials.
The Committee is calling for an improvement in the way local authorities engage with Gypsy and Traveller communities which would also better the public’s understanding of the needs and way of life of Gypsies and Travellers.
There are also two clear recommendations for the Welsh Government from today’s report to improve dialogue and trust. They must ensure that each local authority has a Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officer, and they should also reinstate the Gypsy and Traveller Forum as soon as possible to improve dialogue and trust.
John Griffiths continued, “We heard that anti-Traveller prejudice on a local level and throughout society is still prevalent - addressing this must be a priority.
“It’s time for both the Welsh Government and local authorities to act on our recommendations with urgency or members of Gypsy and Traveller communities will continue to be treated like second class citizens in Wales.”
Privately owned sites
Gypsies and Travellers who spoke to the Committee said that they would prefer to live on sites managed by themselves as opposed to ones managed by local authorities.
In the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan, published in 2022, they set out numerous actions to make the country anti-racist by 2030. One of these was to launch a three-year programme to provide independent, trusted advice to those seeking to develop private sites.
Nearly three years on, the Committee found that this work hasn’t been started by the Welsh Government.