Cheshire Partnership Area Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation and Related Services Assessment Final Report By Philip Brown, Lisa Hunt, Andy Steele Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit University of Salford & Pat Niner Centre for Urban and Regional Studies University of Birmingham May 2007 2 About the Authors Philip Brown and Lisa Hunt are Research Fellows in the Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) at the University of Salford. Andy Steele is Professor of Housing & Urban Studies and Director of the Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) at the University of Salford. Pat Niner is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS) at the University of Birmingham The Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit is a dedicated multi-disciplinary research and consultancy unit providing a range of services relating to housing and urban management to public and private sector clients. The Unit brings together researchers drawn from a range of disciplines including: social policy, housing management, urban geography, environmental management, psychology, social care and social work. Study Team Core team members: Community interviewers: Dr Philip Brown Jane Hurn Dr Lisa Hunt Joe Hurn Professor Andy Steele Roseanna Price Pat Niner Ann Smith Anya Ahmed AVT-interventions Steering Group Mark Allen - Vale Royal Borough Shantele Janes – Cheshire, Halton and Council Warrington Racial Equality Council Charlotte Aspinall - Vale Royal Borough Vikki Jeffrey - Crewe & Nantwich Council Borough Council Alastair Bain – Crewe & Nantwich Pat Johnson – Ellesmere Port & Neston Borough Council Borough Council Toni Burke - Vale Royal Borough Win Lawlor – Irish Community Care Council Merseyside Gavin Clark – Congleton Borough Mary Lee – Independent Council Neil Macfarlane – Halton Borough Mathew Clifford – Vale Royal Borough Council Council Samantha Murray – St Helens Sean Daley – Ellesmere Port & Neston Metropolitan Borough Council Borough Council Janet Smith – Commission for Racial Mathieu Evans - Congleton Borough Equality Council Dawn Taylor - Halton Borough Council Lynne Glendenning – Macclesfield (Chair) Borough Council Peter Taylor – Warrington Borough Alison Heine – Independent Council Paul Ince – Ellesmere Port & Neston Linda Walker – Chester County Council Borough Council Helen White – Chester City Council 3 4 Acknowledgements This study was greatly dependent upon the time, expertise and contributions of a number of individuals and organisations without whom the study could not have been completed. Members of the project Steering Group provided guidance and assistance throughout the project. Particular thanks must go to Dawn Taylor for her constant and consistent support she provided to the study team. Special thanks are also due to all those who took the time to participate in the study, helped organise the fieldwork and provided invaluable information and support in the production of this report. We are particularly indebted to the Lancashire Section of the Showmen’s Guild for their assistance in the collation of valuable information. AVT-interventions, a North West based consultancy, played a significant role in the fieldwork and community engagement process for this assessment and we are grateful to them for their contribution. Particular thanks must, of course, go to the many Gypsies and Travellers who found the time to talk to us and answer our questions in a full, honest and patient manner. It is hoped that this report is able to accurately reflect their experiences and needs. This report is based on research undertaken by the study team and the analysis and comment thereafter does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the research commissioning authorities, stakeholders and agencies. The authors take responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions in the report. 5 6 Executive summary The Study Recent legislation and guidance from the government has indicated a commitment to taking steps to resolve some of the long standing accommodation issues for members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities. This legislation has an overarching aim of ensuring that members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities have equal access to decent and appropriate accommodation options akin to each and every other member of society. As a result, a number of Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs) are now being undertaken across the UK, as local authorities respond to these new obligations and requirements. The North West Regional Assembly, on behalf of the Cheshire Chief Executives Advisory Group, commissioned this assessment of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation across the Cheshire Partnership Area in July 2006. The authorities which comprise the Cheshire Partnership are: Cheshire County Council, Halton Borough Council, Warrington Borough Council, Chester City Council, Ellesmere Port & Neston Borough Council, Vale Royal Borough Council, Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council, Macclesfield Borough Council, Congleton Borough Council and St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council. The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit at the University of Salford, assisted by staff from the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham and AVT-interventions, with research support from members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities. The assessment was managed by a Steering Group composed of members from the Cheshire Partnership authorities. The assessment was undertaken by conducting: • A review of available literature, data and secondary sources; • A detailed questionnaire completed by housing and planning officers; • Five thematic focus groups with 28 key stakeholders; and • A total of 155 interviews with Gypsies and Travellers from a range of tenures. Background Following the Housing Act 2004, local authorities have been preparing to develop and implement strategies to respond to the accommodation needs of the Gypsy and Traveller communities living in their areas as part of their wider housing strategies and the Regional Housing Strategy (RHS). Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs) are designed to provide the evidence needed to inform these strategies. However, as well as presenting 7 evidence and information on accommodation needs at an immediate local level the evidence collected and analysis produced has a wider regional role. The assessment of accommodation need and pitch requirements are also to be fed into the Regional Planning Body (RPB), in this case the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA), for inclusion into the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The RSS then specifies pitch numbers required (but not their location) for each local planning authority (LPA) in light of the GTAAs conducted and a strategic view of need, supply and demand across the region is taken. The local planning authority’s Development Planning Document (DPD) then identifies specific sites to match pitch numbers from the RSS. Main Findings Local Gypsies and Travellers • At the time of the survey the study area had 59 pitches on three residential sites all managed by the local authorities concerned; 222 pitches on private authorised sites; a minimum of 3 unauthorised developments containing 16 pitches; a minimum of 36 families on unauthorised encampments; and at least 109 households in bricks and mortar housing. In all there was a minimum of 442 Gypsy/Traveller families on sites, in houses or encamped at the time of the survey. The average household size was 3.5 persons, significantly larger than the average in the settled community. The average caravan to household ratio was 1.4 caravans per household. • Survey responses suggested that there was a small incidence of disability and ill-health with 12.0% of people reporting some form of disability or long-term illness. Experience of multiple incidences of ill- health was not uncommon • Nearly three-quarters of the respondents thought that education is important for Gypsy/Traveller children; however, only just over half of the respondents reported that their children had regular attendance at school. Irregular attendance was particularly acute for those families living on unauthorised encampments. • The Gypsies and Traveller households consulted reported being involved in a wide range of jobs. Self-employment was a key feature with building, groundwork, dealing, hawking, uPVC & roofing and gardening frequently mentioned. A small number of respondents worked in non-traditional Gypsy/Traveller trades including healthcare, hairdressing and shop management. There may be a greater tendency, over coming years, for Gypsy and Traveller children to enter more non-Traveller trades more similar to those of the settled community. Because of the influence of family roles and responsibilities traditional Gypsy and Traveller trades remain an integral part of the community. 8 • Nearly half of those interviewed considered Cheshire, or areas within Cheshire, as their ‘home’. Just over a third of those interviewed reported that they had not travelled at all in the last 12 month period. Approximately a third of the sample had travelled in some form over the previous 12 month period. The vast majority of those that had travelled in the last 12 months had been engaged in seasonal travelling (i.e. travelling in late spring, summer and early autumn). Gypsy and Traveller perspectives on accommodation • The vast majority of those interviewed thought that their site/accommodation was either OK, good or very good. In total, a fifth described their accommodation as poor or very poor. The environment in which their site was located was a main concern as site accommodation was often near busy roads, waste ground or near train lines. Almost all of those we spoke to in bricks and mortar accommodation described their accommodation as OK, good or very good. Only a tiny minority of respondents described their home as poor or very poor, many of whom were Showpeople. • Very few respondents expressed a desire to move from their accommodation within the next five years. It is clear that Gypsies and Travellers are afforded few accommodation options – any movement from sites is constrained by a perceived lack of space on other authorised sites. Generally speaking residents who have stable accommodation do not wish to return to travelling in the current climate. Bricks and mortar housing is attractive to a number of families, however at the same time, poor experience of bricks and mortar living has discouraged those that have already tried this from returning to this type of accommodation. • Two thirds of people in bricks and mortar accommodation expected to live in their current accommodation indefinitely, while a small group thought they would leave at some point in the next 5 years. • By far the most preferred form of accommodation was a private site owned by either themselves or their family, followed by staying on a site owned by the local authority. The possibility of maintaining a travelling lifestyle by staying on a network of transit sites was viewed positively. A form of group housing was seen as broadly favourable but there appeared a lack of understanding as to what this actual meant in practice, probably due to lack of experience with this kind of accommodation. 9 Gypsies and Travellers on unauthorised encampments and unauthorised developments • According to Police records there were a total of 258 incidents of encampments during 2005. These records showed a very consistent number of encampments over the 2005 period with particular peaks during the summer months and lows during the winter months. Analysis of the records held by local authorities on unauthorised encampments showed a total of 184 encampments from August 2005-August 2006. • Six out of ten households on unauthorised encampments were actively looking for somewhere more stable and secure to live within the study area. • There appears to be a clear relationship between land ownership and duration of encampment. The average duration of the 45 encampments with known duration on public land was ten days; on private land it was five days (85 encampments). • According to the survey the areas in which Gypsies and Travellers were currently encamped were not their preferred stopping places. The majority considered these areas in negative terms largely due to feelings of insecurity and environmental considerations (i.e. industrial areas, near roads, near waste grounds). • Those households on unauthorised encampments had very poor living conditions, lacking access to water, toilets, showers or waste disposal; only half of unauthorised encampments had access to electricity. • According to the survey of local authorities there were 3 unauthorised developments (all in St Helens) at the time of the assessment comprising of approximately 13 pitches. From the survey of Gypsies and Travellers the project team found further unauthorised developments in Chester, Congleton and Vale Royal. Accommodation need and supply Nationally, there are no signs that the growth in the Gypsy and Traveller population will slow significantly. Although the supply of authorised accommodation has declined since 1994, the size of the population of Gypsies and Travellers does not appear to have been affected to a great extent. Instead, the way in which Gypsies and Travellers live has changed, with increases in unauthorised accommodation, innovative house dwelling arrangements (living in trailers in the grounds of houses), overcrowding on sites and overcrowding within accommodation units (trailers, houses, chalets, etc.). 10