I was surprised that your article about the recent Office of the Deputy Prime Minister select committee report did not mention its recommendation that a statutory duty should be placed on councils to provide sites for gypsies and travellers (25 July, page 12). As an organisation that works with homeless people, gypsies and travellers, we welcome this proposal.
The truly radical change that needs to take place is for the government and MPs to redefine housing provision to include gypsy and traveller sites, and low-impact housing.
Then, this wider definition should be applied to the funding streams available to bricks and mortar housing. This would mean social housing grants, regeneration funding and other related schemes could fund the provision of gypsy and traveller sites.
Source
Housing Today
Postscript
Kevin Daws, project manager, The Robert Barton Trust
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