Guidance for designing Gypsy and Traveller sites - Chapter 1: introduction

This chapter outlines the intention to design Gypsy and Traveller Sites in a way which is consistent with themes emerging through the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan. It also highlights the purpose of this practical guide to inform local authorities on how to design, develop and improve sites. This is the updated version of guidance and replaces the original guide published in 2015.

The Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan sets out its vision for making Wales an anti-racist nation. The actions within the plan include support for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Welsh society and the steps we will be taking to achieve anti-racism for these communities.

This guidance was informed by engagement with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community members. We recognise the cultural differences which have often led to the social exclusion of these groups and we want to ensure these communities’ voices are heard in service delivery.

This guidance is intended to help local authorities to design Gypsy and Traveller sites in a way which supports the human rights of residents and facilitates their access to adequate housing, healthcare, education, sanitation and play facilities.

Applying a human rights-based approach to designing Gypsy and Traveller sites is essential to ensuring fairness, inclusion and a cohesive society. Taking a genuinely collaborative approach will also help ensure the needs of Gypsies and Traveller communities are properly identified and met.

This approach aligns with the Guidance’s emphasis on co-production, the Public Sector Equality Duty, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, all of which highlight the importance of inclusive and representative engagement.

Often for policy purposes and to ensure the distinctness of these 3 communities are reflected, the term Gypsy, Roma and Traveller is used. However, for the purposes of this guidance, the term Gypsies and Travellers, as defined in the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, will be used to reflect the statutory nature of the duties local authorities have towards these communities.

This guidance is underpinned by a range of legislation which sets out the rights of Gypsies and Travellers and what they can expect local authorities to do for them, including the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 which requires local authorities to meet the needs identified in their Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments.

Under section 56 of the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013, a local authority may provide sites where mobile homes may be brought for use as permanent residences, and may manage the sites or lease them to another person. Local authorities must, when providing mobile homes sites, have regard to any model standards for the layout of, and the provision of facilities, services and equipment for such sites as specified by the Welsh Ministers under section 10. Read the model standards 2008 for caravan sites in Wales. Local authority Gypsy and Traveller sites are ‘protected sites’ for the purposes of the Act providing equal security of tenure for residents living on Gypsy and Traveller sites. The Act also clarifies roles and responsibilities for the management of pitches and other amenities on sites.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), local authorities must ensure that the rights of children and young people to express their views on matters which affect them and to have a sufficient standard of living are taken into account whenever designing a Gypsy and Traveller site

The Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 places a statutory duty on local authorities to promote the participation of children and young people in decisions that affect them.

Together, these provisions provide a framework for ensuring that children and young people are respected as individuals with their own rights, experiences and perspectives that must shape the environments they live in.

Demographic

There is a current trend towards Gypsies and Travellers becoming more ‘settled’ on permanent sites or moving into conventional housing. Travelling has become more difficult due to changing patterns in work and the lack of legal stopping places or transit provision, and the impact of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (Police Act 2022).

The Census 2021 suggested there are only 3,630 Gypsies and Irish Travellers living in Wales. Across England and Wales only 21.6% of all community members were recorded as living in caravans or other mobile or temporary structures, with 78.4% residing in various types of conventional (‘bricks and mortar’) housing. At the time of publication, 16 of the 22 local authorities in Wales have Gypsy and Traveller sites, providing approximately 465 pitches.

The Welsh Government is committed to the principle of treating the Welsh and English languages on a basis of equality. The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 makes provision for the specification of standards of conduct in relation to the Welsh language. The current standards are specified in the Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015.

The Welsh Language Commissioner has issued a compliance notice on the Welsh Ministers specifying which of the standards currently apply to any activity or service provided by or on behalf of the Welsh Ministers.

Each local authority is subject to its own Welsh Language Compliance Notice, which is enforced by the Welsh Language Commissioner.

This guidance is intended to support local authorities to design and maintain appropriate sites for Gypsies and Travellers in Wales. It contains practical guidance to assist local authorities to ensure all their sites, including temporary/negotiated stopping places and transit sites, are fit-for- purpose. Read the guidance related to the preparation of Local Development Plans (LDPs) in terms of procedures, general context and specifically in relation to Gypsy and Traveller provision.

The guidance should be read alongside the 2008 Model Standards which local authorities must have regard to.

It should be also read in conjunction with the Managing Gypsy and Traveller Sites in Wales guidance which sets out the respective responsibilities of the local authority and residents under the terms of mobile home agreements as stipulated under the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013.

This guidance is not issued under statute. However, following this guidance when designing new sites or re-furbishing existing sites will help local authorities to design, develop and improve suitable Gypsy and Traveller sites in their area.

Local authorities having regard to this guidance and the ‘Managing Gypsy and Traveller Sites in Wales’ guidance will help to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller sites in Wales:

• are built on suitable and safe land
• are sustainable, well managed where maintenance is planned and not always reactive
• are designed with effective collaboration with Gypsy and Traveller communities
• have equivalent standards, where relevant, to those for other types of mobile home sites and social housing
• are designed so as to help encourage and develop good relations between Gypsies and Travellers and the settled community, and between site residents and the site manager / local authority

The Anti-racist Wales Action Plan recognises that safe, culturally appropriate accommodation is necessary for individuals to flourish in other parts of their lives and aims to address the lack of site provision and poor quality of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation in Wales. This goal will be supported through the continued availability of Sites Capital Grant funding for the development of new and existing sites.

The extent to which local authorities have had regard to this guidance will form part of the consideration of the Welsh Government when assessing applications for Sites Capital Grant funding in relation to Gypsy and Traveller sites. Any bids made for new sites/pitches that do not meet the expected standards referred to in this guidance may be rejected. Local authorities are reminded to qualify for grant funding, new sites must be sustainable and available for use as a Gypsy and Traveller site for at least 21 years.

This guidance replaces the 2015 ‘Designing Gypsy and Traveller Sites’ guidance.

In developing this guidance, community engagement was undertaken to ensure the process was rooted in lived experience and reflected a human-centred approach. This included working directly with Gypsies and Travellers across Wales, ensuring that the guidance is accessible, inclusive and shaped by the voices of those most affected. The Welsh Government has also aimed to align standards with those the settled community can expect to experience. In most cases a direct comparison may be made to other types of mobile home sites but in some instances it is more appropriate to draw comparisons with social housing provision.

This guidance focuses solely on local authority owned or leased Gypsy and Traveller sites. Section 62 of the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013 and section 108 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.

Define ‘Gypsies and Travellers’ as follows:

1. Persons of a nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, including:
   1. Persons who, on grounds only of their own or their family’s or dependant’s educational or health needs or old age, have ceased to travel temporarily or permanently, and
   2. Members of an organised group of travelling show people or circus people (whether or not travelling together as such); and
2. All other persons with a cultural tradition of nomadism or of living in a mobile home.

The intention of the above definition is to ensure ethnic Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers are included, as well as those from any other ethnic group who follow a nomadic habit of life. The definition also includes Travelling Showpeople. New Travellers should also be captured by the definition if they demonstrate a cultural tradition of nomadism or of living in mobile homes.

Members of these communities do not necessarily need to demonstrate a continued nomadic habit of life to be considered Gypsies or Travellers.

Gypsies and Travellers are amongst the most socially excluded groups, with health and education outcomes significantly worse than that of the settled population. Some evidence suggests where Gypsies and Travellers are able to settle on well managed and maintained sites, they are better able to access health and education services, which can lead to a better quality of life.

As recognised by Estyn, children benefit through better attendance and attainment within the education system; ensuring suitable educational opportunities are accessible for those living on local authority sites also enables education professionals to build stable and trusting relationships with families.

Better access to health care will help individuals, for example, take advantage of preventative healthcare, including vaccinations of children; having sites which are accessible to health visitors will also help achieve better healthcare for site residents.

Gypsies and Travellers living on permanent sites are also more likely to use accessible local facilities, which helps ensure their children can live and play in safe environments.

This guidance seeks to ensure that many more Gypsies and Travellers will be able to access culturally-appropriate accommodation. This reflects Human Rights case law and supports our National Equality Objectives 2024 to 2028 to meet the specific housing needs of those with protected characteristics.