Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the roundtable report entitled Challenging and improving planning policy for Gypsies and Travellers from the all-party parliamentary group on Gypsies Travellers and Roma.

Planning Policy for Traveller Sites is clear that Local Planning Authorities should set pitch targets for gypsies and travellers and plot targets for travelling showpeople which address the likely permanent and transit site accommodation needs of travellers in their area, working collaboratively with neighbouring local planning authorities. They should identify and update annually, a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide 5 years’ worth of sites against their locally set targets.

Through a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February 2019 (HCWS1305), local authorities were reminded of their duties to assess the need for transit and permanent sites.

We have committed to a number of measures to support site provision including to finalise the 2016 draft guidance on assessing housing need including for those residing in caravans; and to consider making information on permanent and transit sites in plans freely available in open data format so that there is a single, clear source of data available. We will also consider writing to those authorities who do not have an up-to-date plan for travellers in place.