5. Will the Minister make a statement on actions the Welsh Government is taking to support the traveller community? OAQ(5)0088(CC)

I thank the Member for her question. The Welsh Government has worked to improve outcomes for Gypsies and Travellers through the ‘Travelling to a Better Future’ framework for action and delivery plan. There has been real progress since 2014 and an update to the plan was published in March this year.

Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. What measures are the Welsh Government taking to foster liaison and communication between Travellers and local settled communities that they move into?

We have cohesion co-ordinators to work with Gypsy and Traveller groups and I meet with representatives of the community regularly.

In terms of the outreach effort, Cabinet Secretary, I know that it’s important to address the issues that Gypsy/Traveller families have in the round, including better educational attainment and better school attendance. I know that that effort involves not just work in the schools, but also within the community and the whole-family approach. In terms of the whole-family approach and outreach, will you look at Welsh Government resource and support for that aspect of this work, please?

Yes, we provide funding for the Save the Children’s Travelling Ahead project through the equality and inclusion grant to support awareness of rights and participation amongst young Gypsies and Travellers. You’re right: the family approach is an important one. Gypsy and Traveller families are probably one of the most disadvantaged families and have the shortest lifespan out of most of the strands in terms of equality. It’s something that we should consider very carefully about our intervention. I met with a spokesperson only last week, who talked about their failure to report hate crimes against them, because they fear that nothing gets done. We should be looking at that very carefully as well. So, I’ve asked my team to engage further with them. But the Member raises a very important question about how we engage and the whole-family approach.

I have an interest as a member of Powys County Council. Members of Machynlleth Town Council have expressed their concerns regarding proposals by Powys County Council to locate a permanent Traveller site near Machynlleth. Town councillors agree that there hasn’t been a formal consultation, as they had been promised by the county council, with residents regarding possible locations for the site. I have made my own representations to the local authority and I would be grateful if you would add your weight to the calls for Powys County Council to hold a full and proper and transparent consultation to ensure that residents have the opportunity to express their suggestions about location and ideas themselves.

I’d be surprised if the authority haven’t engaged with their local communities, but I’ll take the Member’s word for that. It’s something that I would expect them to do in a transparent way. Sometimes when people don’t like the outcomes of decisions, there’s always a conspiracy behind it, but what we have to think about here is the process. There is a principle of operating under the well-being of future generations Act that is about involvement and consultation and I would expect Powys to be involved in that.

But we also have to recognise that, often, particularly around Gypsy and Traveller sites, they are very difficult places to find in communities because many people will say, ‘We just don’t want them’, for the wrong reasons. Actually, we have to have a grown-up conversation here about where we site people on a long-term basis. Again, I’ll go back to a previous question, presented by Bethan Jenkins: these are human beings we’re talking about. Actually, sticking them under a bypass is not appropriate. We have to make sure we’ve got proper provision for Roma families that wish to live in these places.