Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:49 pm on 16 March 2022.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 1:49, 16 March 2022

Thank you, Mark Isherwood, for very important questions in relation to the delivery of our commitments to Gypsy, Roma and Travellers to ensure that local authorities do fulfil their statutory duties to provide adequate and appropriate sites where there is need. And we recreated this duty—the Welsh Government and the Senedd here—to identify and meet the need for appropriate accommodation. That's within—and you were here—the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, and, in fact, we have seen well over 200 new pitches created or refurbished, mainly on smaller sites, and that is compared with what happened before that, which was just a handful, and we're also funding local authorities to build new pitches and refurbish many more.

It's crucial that Gypsy/Roma/Travellers are engaged in the process with their local authorities. It is a local authority responsibility and we're working with local authorities to identify and remove barriers to meeting needs. We fund Travelling Ahead, as you will be aware, of course, through TGP Cymru to deliver advice and advocacy to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and that funding is continuing as well. But it is true—I think, Mark, you're right—the fact that we now have a chance again to review, as a result of the accommodation assessments—the deadline's passed—for Gypsy and Travellers, and we need to look at this in terms of compliance, guidance, quality of engagement and calculation of needs.