Assessing local authorities’ progress in meeting the accommodation needs of Gypsy and Traveller communities in England and Wales: 2010 update: Research report 68

In 2009 the Equality and Human Rights Commission (the Commission) published the briefing paper Gypsies and Travellers: Simple solutions for living together (referred to as Simple Solutions). This was based on evidence from two separate pieces of research: a review of the inequalities faced by Gypsies and Travellers (Cemlyn, Greenfields, Burnett, Matthews and Whitwell, 2009) and a review of the progress local authorities were making in providing pitches for Gypsies and Travellers in England (Brown and Niner, 2009). Simple Solutions highlighted the relatively slow and inadequate progress local authorities were making in taking steps to resolve the recognised shortfall of appropriate accommodation. A subsequent report examined the progress made by local authorities in Scotland (Brown, Niner and Lomax, 2010).

The aim of this study is to provide an update to the 2009 progress review and to provide information relating to the progress made by local authorities in Wales over the 2006-2009 period. This report is based on data collected between January and March 2010. The details of current site provision, and plans to develop further sites, may have changed slightly since then. Nevertheless, it does provide a recent update on site provision for Gypsies and Travellers and the challenges that need to be addressed.