Travellers: Finance

(asked on 27th February 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding, if any, they have committed to improving the life chances of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities; and whether that funding is ringfenced.


This question was answered on 9th March 2020

The Government has provided funding aimed at improving the life chances of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities.

The Department for Education has provided over £15 billion of pupil premium funding since 2011 and a further £2.4 billion in the current financial year, which will have benefited children from GRT communities.

In 2018/19, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided £200,000 of ring-fenced funding to Voluntary and Community Sector organisations for six pilot projects aimed at improving outcomes for GRT in the areas of educational attainment, health and social integration. Two of these pilot projects received further ring-fenced funding totalling £95,000 in 2019/20.

The Controlling Migration Fund (2016 – 2020) has provided £102 million of non-ringfenced funding for local authorities under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. This funding is designed to help ease the pressures on local services caused by recent migration. These projects aid in helping migrant communities to access services, improve health outcomes, raising educational outcomes for children and young adults and English language provision. Roma communities are the beneficiaries, but not the sole focus of several of the projects funded through the Controlling Migration Fund.

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