Too often, sites are located far from local services and amenities, including schools, and are usually situated near busy A-roads and industrial infrastructure. We heard from Professor Jo Richardson of De Montfort University, who noted that sites are often located in unsuitable areas,

'because it's the patch of land that had the least hostility, that could be developed'.

This deprives the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community of any connection to the natural environment, and the opportunity to make a decent home. This, in our view, is totally unacceptable.

We were encouraged, Llywydd dros dro, to hear the Minister for Social Justice agree that locating sites next to busy roads and far from local services is unacceptable, and Welsh Government with partner organisations are seeking to improve outcomes through its 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan'. The committee welcomes the publication of this plan; however, we do have reservations about its potential effectiveness in its ability to deliver more sites. Whether such emphasis should be placed on the plan is a matter of debate, since legislation already exists that requires local authorities to meet the need of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The evidence suggests that there is little accountability for failure to meet those statutory duties at present. The Minister told the committee that the legislative framework is 'robust' and that since 2014, 63 new pitches have been built, with funding to refurbish many more. We call on the Welsh Government to ensure that the framework is effective in practice, and to set out how it will tighten its monitoring of implementation of the Act, given the problems that we know exist in terms of availability of sites, quality of sites, suitable location of sites, and the general cultural unsuitability of provision within Wales.

Within the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan' there is a commitment to create a national network of transit provision to facilitate travelling life by 2025. We heard that the lack of transitory provision and stopping places in Wales is of real concern to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community. Data currently shows that there are as few as two transit pitches across the whole of Wales. This lack of provision only adds to the challenges faced by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community.

The passing of the UK Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 has heightened anxiety among many within that community. The Act makes trespassing a criminal offence and gives police the powers to tackle unauthorised encampments, and may include seizing vehicles from those who live this nomadic lifestyle. The committee was reassured to hear from the Welsh police forces that the use of such powers would be a last resort, and that a multi-agency response will continue to be adopted here in Wales. Nevertheless, mitigating the impact of the Act on these communities is imperative, and that can only be done by providing sufficient and appropriate sites and pitches across our country.

While the focus of the inquiry was on the provision of local authority sites, many families are seeking to establish a home of their own on their own parcel of land. We heard of a myriad of barriers and legal obstacles to the granting of planning permission. Many families, in fact, go to great expense to hire legal representation and planning specialists to help them navigate a complicated system, too often without success. We were pleased to hear, then, that Welsh Government has committed to commission a three-year pilot programme to provide trusted, independent advice to people seeking to develop private sites. We look forward to seeing this programme progress with speed, and we will be looking closely at the impact it will have on outcomes.

Throughout the evidence gathering process, the committee heard that prejudice and discrimination is prevalent in the decisions and actions taken by institutions and elected representatives. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales called for more to be done to tackle the prejudice that exists within local authorities, and at a community level, to prevent discrimination in decision-making processes. To this end, we are pleased to see that the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan' commits to commission a provider to deliver members' training on Gypsy and Traveller communities’ culture, needs and strengths. However, we are concerned that the training will not be provided to all local authorities in Wales, and we do have reservations about the extent to which the training will have lasting impact. We recommended that the training should be expanded to the community council sector in Wales.

There is a need, we believe, to improve knowledge and understanding of the culture, needs and strengths of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities among the wider community, and we were pleased to hear that our recommendations have been accepted in full. We look forward to monitoring the development and impact of this work over the next few years, and that includes funding. Funding to support the development of measures in the action plan, as well as continued funding support for local authorities, will be critical to improving the availability of appropriate sites and pitches in the future. The Welsh Government has committed to review the current funding policy, with a view to pilot additional or new ways of funding site provision, including support for private sites, by 2024. We would encourage Welsh Government to explore all possible avenues for funding the development of sites in Wales.

Our 21 recommendations, which, as I said earlier, we're very pleased to see have been accepted in full by the Welsh Government, we believe set out some very important ways forward. We know that the Minister for Social Justice and the Welsh Government as a whole are committed to improving not only the provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, but also to improving the lives of this diverse community.

This is a very important issue to us, and I believe our report has set out in quite stark terms the reality of the situation here in Wales at the moment, and the need for much more to be done and action to be taken that is practically effective on the ground, where it really counts. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities simply want a place to call home for however long they are there. We as a committee will be monitoring this important issue throughout the term of this sixth Senedd to see how interventions and, in particular, the goals within the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan' have positively impacted on the lives of those it seeks to help. We all know actions speak louder than words, and in these instances, action is greatly needed. Diolch.