Newsletter of the Travellers Advice Team
at Community Law Partnership / October 2014 No. 19
Travellers Advice Team national telephone helpline for Gypsies and Travellers
0121 685 8677 Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm
No operator service. Get straight through to an expert.

NO MAD LAWS

Most of our readers will be aware of the No Mad Laws campaign.

This campaign consists of Gypsy and Traveller support groups and representatives and Gypsies and Travellers themselves who have joined together to highlight the disastrous effect that the Coalition Government’s legal aid and judicial review reforms will have upon Gypsies and Travellers.

More details can be found on the CLP website at

If you have not already done so, please sign and pass around our petition at:

The Campaign now has a website at:

Well done to Jo Gregson of South West Law for setting this up.

ENGLAND REGRESSES

Most readers will also be aware of the disastrous proposals from the Department for Communities and Local Government in their consultation paper ‘Planning and travellers’ (note their insistent use of small case ‘t’). The paper can be found at:

CLP hosted a workshop on these proposals in Birmingham on Monday 6th October. The briefing paper, appendices and report back will be available in the Campaigns and Consultations section of the CLP website soon.

Meanwhile The Prime Minister and former Bullingdon Boy, David Cameron, attacked the Human Rights Act at the Conservative Party conference on 1 October 2014:

Of course it’s not just the European Union that needs sorting out, it’s the European Court of Human Rights.

When that charter was written, in the aftermath of the Second World War, it set out the basic rights we should respect. But since then, interpretations of that charter have led to a whole lot of things that are frankly wrong.

Rulings to stop us deporting suspected terrorists. The suggestion that you’ve got to apply the convention on the battlefields of Helmand. And now they want to give prisoners the vote. I’m sorry I just don’t agree.

Our parliament decided they shouldn’t have that right. This is the country that wrote Magna Carta… we do not require instructions from judges in Strasbourg. This country will have a new British bill of rights to be passed in our parliament, rooted in our values. And as for Labour’s Human Rights Act? We will scrap it.

This is the same dastardly European Court of Human Rights which held that the United Kingdom was in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention (the right to respect for private and family life and home) by not providing Gypsies and Travellers on local authority rented sites with security of tenure. And which Government accepted this ruling and introduced security of tenure by the introduction of the provisions of the Mobile Homes Act 1983 on local authority sites? Um, let us see…that would be the current Coalition Government.

WALES PROGRESSES

Housing (Wales) Act 2014

Part 3 of the Act (sections 101 to 110) deals with Gypsies and Travellers. Section 103 introduces a duty to meet assessed needs, stating:

(1)If a local housing authority’s approved assessment identifies needs within the authority’s area with respect to the provision of sites on which mobile homes may be stationed the authority must exercise its powers in section 56 of the Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013 (power of authorities to provide sites for mobile homes) so far as may be necessary to meet those needs.

The Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013 section 56 states:

(1)A local authority may within its area provide sites where mobile homes may be brought, whether for holidays or other temporary purposes or for use as permanent residences, and may manage the sites or lease them to another person.

Section 104 of the Act provides for a power of direction by the Welsh Ministers if a local authority has not complied with the duty under section 103.

Section 105 introduces a duty on local authorities to provide relevant information required by the Welsh Ministers and section 107 relates to Housing Strategies.

Sections 101 and 102 deal with the assessment of need: see

Part 3 will come into force on a date to be set by the Welsh Government. Our current understanding is that Part 3 will be commenced in stages. The Welsh Government expects to commence the majority of Part 3 (excluding sections 103 and 104) in February 2015. The delay is due to the need to have finalised their Undertaking Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) guidance, which is currently out for consultation (see below).

Local Authorities will then have 12 months (by the end of February 2016) to complete and submit a new GTAA to Welsh Ministers. Therefore, the Welsh Government expect to commence sections 103 and 104 in March 2016.

Check out this exhibition and launch of the wonderful Travellers Times website.

CONSULTATION SUB-GROUP

TAT co-ordinates a group that swaps information and ideas about consultations and inquiries that affect Gypsies and Travellers. Let us know if you want to join this group ( we should add that the group is for those who represent and support Gypsies and Travellers as well as for Gypsies and Travellers themselves, of course).

The latest situation with regard to consultations is as follows:

Ongoing consultations and inquiries 2014

In order of date of deadline:

  1. Welsh Government ‘Travelling to Better Health’

Deadline 30 October 2014

  1. Welsh Government ‘Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments’

Deadline 21 November 2014

  1. Welsh Government ‘Designing Gypsy and Traveller Sites Guidance’

Deadline 21 November 2014

  1. Welsh Government ‘Managing Gypsy and Traveller Sites Guidance’

Deadline 21 November 2014

  1. DCLG ‘Planning and travellers’

Deadline 23 November 2014

  1. EHRC Litigation Strategy Survey

Deadline 12 December 2014

TAT NEWS SURVEY

It is now just over a year since we launched these E Bulletins to replace our previous annual magazine (we should add that paper copies are sent to those who don’t have e-mail access or would prefer paper copies). We thought it was a good time to carry out a brief survey and it would assist us greatly if you took just a few moments to respond to the following questions:

  1. What is your opinion of the E Bulletins?
  1. Do you prefer them to the previous annual magazine?
  1. How can we improve the E Bulletins?
  1. What other matters would you like to see covered in the E Bulletins?

Thanks for taking the time to answer our survey.We will give a general (no names!!) report back on the survey results in a future edition.

Travellers Times Law Blogs

Marc Willers QC of Garden Court Chambers, the planning consultant Dr Simon Ruston and Chris Johnson of TAT provide regular law blogs for Travellers Times website.

The Travellers Advice Team

The members of TAT are Chris Johnson, Parminder Sanghera and Sharon Baxter.

Thanks to our TAT Administrator, Emma Westwood, for organising this Bulletin.

CLP Website

On our website you can find:

  • News items about Gypsy and Traveller issues:
  • Updates on campaigns and consultations:
  • Recent Gypsy and Traveller legal cases:
  • Judgments and reports on our leading cases:
  • Links to Gypsy and Traveller groups:
  • And , of course, previous TAT News E Bulletins:
  • Plus lots of information about the Housing and Public Law Teams who, amongst other things, represent Gypsies and Travellers in housing and homeless Gypsies and Travellers who are seeking housing in the Midlands and surrounding areas. For full details of the Housing Team see:

and the Public Law Team see:

Until Next Time
We hope you find our E-Bulletin useful. All and any comments very welcome.
Don’t forget our national self-funded advice line for Gypsies and Travellers:
0121 685 8677
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Keep up the good fight! Best wishes to all our readers. Kushti bok!
The Travellers Advice Team
Part of The Community Law Partnership
Solicitors
4th Floor, Ruskin Chambers
191 Corporation Street
Birmingham B4 6RP
Tel: 0121 685 8595
Fax: 0121 236 5121
E-mail:
Website: