MPs call for more sites for gypsies.

The government is not doing enough to ensure sites are provided for
gypsies and travellers, a cross-party group of MPs has
warned.

In their report to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister they say
that without government intervention gypsies and travellers will
continue to set up illegal camps.

The MPs want the government to reintroduce the statutory duty
abolished in 1994 that forced councils to provide temporary or
permanent sites for travellers and gypsies.

The report also proposes ring-fenced funds to enable councils to
build sites. It states there are 3,500 individuals with nowhere to
park their caravans.

This is because not all councils continued to provide for
travellers when the former statutory duty in the Caravans Sites Act
1968 was abolished in 1994.

Gypsies and travellers have recently won a series of High Court
cases to remain on unauthorised land because of the lack of
sites.

The government has introduced housing needs assessments for gypsies
and travellers as part of the Housing Bill now in its final stages
which would see councils across England being required to ensure
travellers’ housing needs are met by regions’ planning strategies.