Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Nick Palmer (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 9 September 2009 on behalf of the East Midlands Regional Grand Committee.

Gypsy and Traveller Sites

Question: I thank the Minister for his response. Like him, I think that there is a balance to be struck. There are two points. First, does the Minister accept that national, or regional, Government have a responsibility to ensure that there is a network? Travellers can reasonably say that they want to get from A to B with authorised stopping points along the way. A local council cannot ensure that that is the case on its own. Secondly, we have found locally that the current powers make it slow and expensive for a landowner to get an eviction order, even when it is perfectly clear that the Travellers are there without permission. Will the Minister raise with his ministerial colleagues the question whether the police should be empowered to evict larger groups of Travellers, if those Travellers cannot show that they have permission to be on that site? Rather than the onus being on the landowner to go to court to get the eviction order, which might cost thousands of pounds, the onus would be on the people who are on the land to show that they have a right to be there.

Answer: I will convey to my colleagues in whichever part of Whitehall is responsible—it may be more than one part, as my hon. Friend has mentioned the police and local government—that joining-up action at a local level makes all the difference. I will also convey my hon. Friend’s concerns about how planning powers may be used. I re-emphasise that the regional spatial strategy identifies the need for more pitches. It has stated in which local authority areas those should be, but it is for the local authority areas to decide where the pitches should be located. There are also opportunities and encouragement for local authorities—particularly where Travellers and Gypsies move between neighbouring authorities—to work together to develop a co-ordinated approach. In my county, Northamptonshire, there is a very good working partnership between local authorities, the police, social services, and the education departments to ensure that a Traveller unit is co-funded by a number of organisations, districts and county councils. That provides a service to ensure that when difficulties arise for either the settled community or the travelling community, they are resolved quickly with everyone’s consent. Such practical action by local authorities is the key to resolving the dilemmas that sometimes frustrate local communities.

Secondary information