Stoke City Council Set to Tackle “distrust” in Gypsies & Travellers - Stoke-on-Trent

From the Potteries EYE

Stoke-on-Trent city council are proposing to enhance their Gypsy awareness programme, a report to the Adult and Neighbourhood Scrutiny Committee is to hear next week, following a request from Overview and Scrutiny Committee for a review of services for Gypsies and Travellers residing in the city, put forward by Labour Cllr Martin Garner.

The Committee requested that a review should consider the following:

The public’s perception of Gypsies and Travellers;
Support currently given to help Gypsies and Travellers to settle in the community and manage tenancies;
How to provide accurate information to the community.

The report presented by Val Bourne, Assistant Director of Housing Services is to make 3 recommendations to councillors:

1. That resources are identified to continue and build upon community cohesion work delivered in 2011/12. Proposed projects include:

To continue awareness raising in schools and local community
To develop the web based information on Stoke-on-line and leaflets about Gypsies and Travellers and their culture to answer ‘frequently asked questions’
Targeted consultation and awareness raising with local communities affected by issues relating to Gypsies and Travellers.

2.That awareness training is developed as part of training in Equality and Diversity for Council staff following on from successful delivery of awareness training to local councillors and stakeholders in January 2012.

3. That membership of the local Gypsy and Traveller inter-agency group is expanded to include people working at strategic level in Children and Young People’s Services, the police and Public Health. This will be facilitated by the Housing Enabling Team. Subject to resources, this will enable the group to share knowledge about the local population and address the particular issues that Gypsies and Travellers have accessing mainstream services. The group should work to develop co-ordinated services for Gypsies and Travellers across the city.

The document says that there is a negative public perception of Gyspy and Travellers:

There is little sympathy or understanding displayed by the local population regarding issues faced by the Gypsy and Traveller community. Many members of the public display considerable distrust and wariness around anything to do with Gypsies and Travellers and often perceive that ‘the same rules don’t apply’ to them. These feelings are particularly prevalent when illegal encampments are established or there is the possibility of Gypsies purchasing and developing land.

The overall local population of Gypsies and Travellers was estimated most recently in the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) completed in 2007. The study findings were adopted by the Council in 2008. The study area comprised of Stoke-on-Trent and four neighbouring authorities; Newcastle-under-Lyme, East Stafford, Stafford and Staffordshire Moorlands. The study estimated that there were approximately 664 Gypsies and Travellers living in the study area at the time of the assessment. Of these, around 40 families were estimated to be living in bricks and mortar accommodation in Stoke-on-Trent. The Linehouses Gypsy and Traveller site in Goldenhill, Tunstall provides Council rented accommodation for 137 Gypsies and Travellers.