Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many authorised Traveller sites are on contaminated land.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) does not hold data centrally on the location of authorised traveller sites. The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states that Local Planning Authorities, when developing their Local Plan, should ensure that traveller sites are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.
Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework, as part of the Environment Act, all Local Authorities in England are required to assess air quality in their area.
The Government does not hold centrally information on complaints for statutory nuisances. Section 78R of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires Local Authorities and the Environment Agency to keep a public register about contaminated land in their respective areas.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month in June.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government supports Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month and welcomes the wide range of organisations across the country that celebrate it each year. This includes schools, colleges, housing associations, Government departments and local authorities.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Future Homes Task Force Delivery Plan to deliver net zero homes.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On the 27th July, the industry-led Future Homes Task Force published a Delivery Plan that sets out the action needed from industry to deliver new homes in line with government’s climate, environmental and sustainability targets by 2050. Relevant government departments (MHCLG, BEIS and Defra) were consulted on the development of the Delivery Plan, which aligns with upcoming regulation such as the Future Homes Standard and with wider environmental policies and priorities such as those on bio-diversity net gain and water efficiency.
The Task Force also announced the creation of the industry-led Future Homes Hub to oversee implementation of the Delivery Plan. The Future Homes Hub will help industry by coordinating pilot developments and prototypes, identifying operational solutions, carrying out research and analysis into delivery challenges and producing technical guidance. The knowledge and outputs from the Hub’s work will be freely shared with industry to help minimise costs and support effective delivery, which will be particularly helpful for SMEs.
It is right that industry leads this work and steps up where necessary to ensure it can meet the challenges associated with the country’s net zero ambitions. Government is pleased to support the work of the Future Homes Hub and senior officials from MHCLG, BEIS, Defra and Homes England sit on the Hub’s board in non-executive roles, helping advise on its programme of work and offering strategic guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the research by Katharine Quarmby 'Systemic Racism within a Rigged System', published in Byline Times on 24 May, on the risks to health and wellbeing on 242 authorised Gypsy and traveller sites; and what steps they will take in response.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) which was published alongside the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework) in 2012 recognises the differing needs and land use of travelling communities and encourages improved site provision.
The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites sets out that authorities should ensure that traveller sites are sustainable economically, socially and environmentally ensuring that (amongst other matters) policies provide for proper consideration of the effect of local environmental quality (such as noise and air quality) on the health and well-being of travellers that may locate there.
The Government remains firmly committed to delivering a cross-government strategy to tackle the inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the undertakings they made in their response to the House of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee report Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, published on 5 April 2019.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government made a number of commitments across departments in its response to the Committee’s report in July 2019. While the Government’s top priority has been to respond to the unprecedented challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are continuing to progress the measures we outlined in our response to the Committee, chief among them our commitment to deliver a cross-government strategy to tackle the inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
In our response to the Committee we committed to tackle inequalities in a number of areas, including education. My department has invested £400,000 into education and training programmes for over 100 Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people, to receive extra tuition to catch up on lost learning during the pandemic, one-to-one support and expert guidance to help them progress in education or find employment.
This is in addition to the Department for Education’s National Tutoring Programme, worth £350 million, which will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people over the 2020-21 academic year. The Department of Education also recently made the announcement about additional laptops and tablets to be made available in 2021 for schools and colleges.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow the same number of people to attend a humanist wedding as religious and civil weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Humanists weddings can take place with 15 people present under these Regulations, as is the case for religious ceremonies and civil ceremonies.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to mark Roma Holocaust Memorial Day on 2 August.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Every year we honour the memory of the Roma and Sinti population murdered by the Nazi's at the annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations on 27 January. The 2nd of August marked the liquidation of the Gypsy Family camp' at Auschwitz-Birkenau and this year due to the restrictions on gatherings brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic I honoured the memory of the Roma and Sinti men, women and children murdered by the Nazi's by releasing a short film on social media.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 6 May (HL3366) stating that they were “holding regular discussions with representatives from the Gypsy and Traveller communities to understand the issues they are facing, including what guidance and support is needed locally”, what steps they are taking to ensure that local authorities reach vulnerable Gypsies and Travellers on the roadside without access to water or sanitation.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government takes the welfare of all citizens seriously and we are working hard to ensure those most at risk are identified and supported including those in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
We have been in close contact with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Voluntary and Community Sector organisations and are doing everything we can to support them through the pandemic.
All local authorities should consider how best to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in their area. On 11 April, I wrote to all local authority chief executives to highlight that some such individuals may need specific support, including access to basic services such as water, sanitation and waste disposal (attached): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mitigating-impacts-on-gypsy-and-traveller-communities
Local authorities may conclude that some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, especially those lacking basic amenities, require alternative places to stop where access to facilities such as water pipes, water bowsers and portable toilets is provided, or can be made temporarily available.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the task force on rough sleeping led by Dame Louise Casey will provide specific support for Roma rough sleepers to ensure that possible language barriers and concerns about dealing with officials are overcome.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We want to ensure local areas have the tools they need to meet the diverse needs of anyone who has been sleeping rough, regardless of their background.
The recently announced taskforce spearheaded by Dame Louise Casey will work with local government, charities, businesses, faith and community groups, and other public sector partners across the country, leading the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during the pandemic.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government maintains close contact with Roma stakeholder groups. Through this continued stakeholder engagement, we ensure all our policy approaches are informed by a wide range of considerations and meet the needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Equality and Human Rights Commission report Gypsy and Traveller sites: the revised planning definition's impact on assessing accommodation needs, published on 13 September.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.