, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up —Evidence session 2
Welcome back, everyone, to our further evidence session on the provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, and our follow-up work. I'm very pleased to welcome, joining us virtually, Elliw Llŷr, housing policy manager for the Isle of Anglesey County…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Thanks very much to everyone. We will break briefly before our next evidence session.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Okay, Louisa, if there are no more questions from committee members, I'd just very much like to thank you for joining us this morning to give evidence and answer our questions, particularly because our other witness, Martin Gallagher, was not available. We're…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Just on that, Louisa, would it have resonated, do you think, the ombudsman's report and findings, in the community? Would it be widely known about and hopefully encourage the community to understand that there are avenues to pursue to make sure that the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Louisa, diolch yn fawr. Altaf Hussain.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Louisa, have you noticed any shift in recent years in terms of the sort of culture within local authorities at officer, member and leadership level? I know it's a pretty difficult question, but have you noticed any shift at all?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Okay, Louisa, thanks for that. James Evans. James.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Presumably, Louisa, if there's a sort of monopoly position for a business, then presumably the charges made might be on the high side as well. Is that something that you've come across?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Sticking with the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', and, indeed, the recommendations that this committee previously made, one key aim was to pilot additional or new ways of funding permanent provision, and explore the feasibility of a mobile home rental…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Have you come across the issues with difficulty in obtaining planning permission that seems to suggest a bias against the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community, Louisa? Have you got any particular examples or would it be more anecdotal?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
From your engagement with the community, Louisa, do you have a view in terms of the desire for those smaller private sites as compared to the bigger sites that we see? Would the community favour one over the other generally, or are you not in a position to…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Yes, so do you see addressing those planning issues, Louisa—is that best addressed through this sort of pilot programme as far as private sites are concerned, which hopefully might come about, or is it by finding a way of facilitating that engagement and…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Okay, Louisa. So, your understanding is that, in terms of advocacy, generally, it's an extension of the existing arrangements, basically. But in terms of the development of private sites, you're not quite sure what's happened with that work and the support…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Okay. Thank you, Lee. Louisa, we just touched on, and you just touched on, the issues around prejudice and discrimination against the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community, and one way forward in dealing with those issues, and issues generally, is through the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Yes, no, sure. Yes. Okay. Thanks, Louisa. Lee Waters. Lee.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Yes. Okay. I guess it's very different now to perhaps years ago where there was this idea that the Gypsy, Traveller community travelled at particular times of the year for particular events or work opportunities and that sort of thing. It's very different…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Diolch yn fawr, Siân. Louisa, could I just ask, in terms of stopping places and transitory provision, how easy or difficult is it to work out the sort of travel patterns and numbers? Would it be possible to do some work to look at that, and, on that basis…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Thanks very much, Lesley. Siân Gwenllian.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: Follow up—Evidence session 1
Item 2, then, is our first evidence session on our follow-up work on the provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers. We have Louisa Devonish joining us remotely. Louisa is the director of Gypsies and Travellers Wales. We are hoping that Martin…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Thank you, Lesley.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Welcome, everyone, to this meeting of the Local Government and Housing Committee. We haven't received any apologies today. The meeting is being held in hybrid format, with some of the witnesses that we'll hear from today and some of our committee members…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you for that, Cabinet Secretary. One significant aspect of homelessness concerns prisoners released from custody. Thirteen per cent of prisoners in England and Wales are released without a home to go to, and the Chief Inspector of Probation says…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
4. How is the Welsh Government working with local authorities to tackle rough-sleeping? OQ61611
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning: Tata Steel
Cabinet Secretary, in terms of the Tata operations in Wales and what we discussed before during previous statements in the Senedd, and the effect on other plants in Wales, in my case, particularly, Llanwern, I'd be interested in what you could tell us…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government: More homes towards ending homelessness
One of the challenges we face, Cabinet Minister, is addressing alternative uses for former retail premises in our city and town centres. Many of those have been converted to residential, but a lot more work could be done, for example to address the unmet need…
