Gypsies and Travellers

Debate between Earl Attlee and Lord Laming

Tuesday 6th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the Government will publish the national planning policy framework by the end of this month, and shortly we will announce our conclusions resulting from all the consultations we have held related to Travellers.

[Lord Laming]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the Gypsy way of life is extremely hard and that the best hope for them and, indeed, for society as a whole is the provision of sufficient official pitches so that the children—the next generation—can receive a proper education and thereby have an alternative lifestyle available to them?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I agree entirely with the noble Lord’s point.

Gypsies and Travellers

Debate between Earl Attlee and Lord Laming

Thursday 16th February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Baroness’s description of the current definition is right. Some of the responses to our consultation on our draft new planning policy for Travellers’ sites suggested that there should be a separate consultation on the definition. The Government are considering all the responses to the consultation. We shall have to wait to see what emerges from that.

[Lord Laming]

My Lords, does the noble Earl accept that one of the greatest challenges in respect of those who live a nomadic life is to secure continuous and proper education for the next generation—the children—so that they can have not only a choice in their lifestyle in the future and settle into society but fulfil their potential as human beings?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right, which is why I saw a separate briefing from officials at the Department for Education.

People Trafficking

Debate between Earl Attlee and Lord Laming

Monday 7th March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is experiencing exactly the same difficulties as I did when researching this. There is the convention and there is the directive. We are confident that the UK is compliant with the Council of Europe trafficking convention, an issue that is already in place. The noble Baroness is referring to the EU trafficking directive. We are looking closely at that directive’s text and considering its merits. If we conclude that opting in to the directive would benefit the UK, we can apply to do so. The UK has a strong record in the fight against trafficking and already complies in both legislation and practice with most of what the draft directive requires.

[Lord Laming]

My Lords, the Government have been looking at that directive for some considerable time. Can the noble Earl assure the House that a decision will be made shortly, rather than allowing this situation to drift on indefinitely?

[Earl Attlee]

The noble Lord makes an important point. The issue is coming to fruition and when we see the final text we will determine whether we will opt in.

Government: Ministerial Cars

Debate between Earl Attlee and Lord Laming

Tuesday 5th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am not aware of any cars using liquid petroleum gas. However, many of them now use diesel fuel. For instance, some of the Jaguar cars will do 26.5 miles to the gallon and the Toyota Prius Mark III will achieve 72.4 miles per gallon. So far as I am aware, though, we are not using LPG as a fuel.

[Lord Laming]

Will the Minister assure the House that the Government will balance driving down costs with ensuring the efficiency of government business?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, we will do so. That is a major consideration.