What Coalition commitments?

The ministerial working group on Gypsies and Travellers has not met since April 2012 and is not scheduled to meet in the future, the government has been forced to admit.

05/11/2014 – The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was ordered to publish information about the group, which is chaired by secretary of state for communities Eric Pickles, by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) last month.

This followed allegations the department was ‘stonewalling’ about the progress of the group, which was set up to tackle inequalities faced by Gypsies and Travellers.

Charity Friends, Family and Travellers (FFT) submitted a request to DCLG under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) asking how many times the group has met since April 2012 and how often it is scheduled to meet in the next six months.

The ministerial working group published a report in 2012 outlining 28 commitments to improve services for Gypsies and Travellers. FFT made the FOIA request because it was not convinced the group was meeting or doing any work to achieve these goals.

Read more on https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/dclg-forced-to-release-gypsy-and-traveller-group-information/7006679.article

Share your opinion on: https://romadebates.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/ministerial-interest/

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Share