Discrimination against travellers in Scotland has failed to improve in the four years since a parliamentary inquiry recommended 37 policy changes to tackle the issue, new research has found, writes Simeon Brody.
More than eight in 10 young gypsies and travellers in Scotland believe discrimination against them has stayed the same or worsened since 2001, according to the study by Save the Children.
And over 70 per cent said their living conditions and experiences at school had not improved in the past four years.
The peer research project was commissioned by the charity to explore whether the position of young travellers in Scotland had changed since the publication of the Scottish parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee report on public services for gypsies and travellers in 2001.
The EOC report recommended the improvement of gypsy accommodation sites and found a lack of cultural awareness in schools, institutional discrimination in health provision and general hostility from the settled community.
The committee is currently reviewing what progress has been made since 2001 and is expected to report in the autumn.
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