Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 16 March 2022.
Diolch. As you know from correspondence, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in north Wales have expressed serious concern that local authority Gypsy/Traveller accommodation assessments have not engaged with them, and, therefore, fail to identify their accommodation needs. An advocate for them wrote to your department, stating that they're continuing to campaign for new sites, even if politicians of all parties and professional officers resolutely ignore them, and that the present law and guidance in Wales—Welsh Government law and guidance—does not ensure local authorities build new sites, residential or transit, or enable planning permission for private sites. In terms of your own responsibilities in Wales, your communities division's response only states, 'We strongly recommend local authorities to closely follow the guidance, along with any studies currently under way.' How do you, therefore, respond to the Gypsies in north Wales themselves who stated, 'Having meetings about sites without a Gypsy there is racism. Very shortly, we will have no transit sites in north Wales and south Wales. I feel we've been completely let down by people who I wanted to trust, and please tell them not to complain when the families who need transit and permanent sites, not included in council plans, pull up on fields et cetera'?