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GYPSIES/TRAVELLERS IN SCOTLAND: The Twice-yearly Count - No. 6: July 2004

UNAUTHORISED LOCATIONS

Unauthorised locations form the third option for Gypsies/Travellers. This may be due to absence of either Council or privately owned sites. Alternatively, some Gypsies/Travellers may not be permitted on a Council site, whether for rent arrears, previous tenancy history or the fact that they will not be accepted by existing residents. Finally there are those who are passing through an area and only wish to stop for a very short period, together with those who under no circumstances would choose to use a Council site.

Unauthorised encampments generally occur on pieces of land such as roadside verges, urban waste land, rural countryside or the shores of sea or loch. Although use of this kind of stopping place continues throughout the year, it tends to be more common in summer, traditionally the time mobility is at its greatest. At this season, work/earning possibilities are likely to be greater and weather conditions may make it more practicable to use particular kinds of stopping place.

Given that Gypsies/Travellers using this category of stopping place tend to be the most mobile, the chances of their being at a known point on the count date can be low, even though they may be moving somewhere within the area. Locations may not generally be visible, particularly in rural areas. Alternatively, where an encampment is accepted by the authorities for a brief period, occupants may move away suddenly, immediately before the count date, even though they may have been there for some time beforehand and subsequently may return. When moving around the country, many Gypsies/Travellers follow regular routes and know of places where they are able to stop, either out of sight or because their presence may be tolerated for short periods of time or under certain conditions. Many of these places have been used either regularly or occasionally for many years if not for generations.

Since the January 2002 count more detailed information about the location of unauthorised encampment has been gathered within the twice-yearly counts. Most Councils, particularly those with an official site or where there is known to be a fairly regular Gypsy/Traveller presence at certain times of the year, build up knowledge about this kind of use within their areas. Council site managers have a particularly valuable role to play here but, even so, much depends on continuity of knowledge, which may be more difficult in larger and generally remote areas. Information may come through a variety of local contacts such as staff in other parts of the Council or perhaps from local police.

As with private sites, information for the twice-yearly count generally has to be based on observation or the willingness/ability of a Council site manager or other official to make some kind of positive contact with any Gypsies/Travellers stopping at a particular location. Much depends on the circumstances of their presence. If they are hoping to get access to a local Council site or are accepted briefly on an unauthorised place, they may be ready to provide some information. Others who are merely passing through or trying to spend as long as possible before being moved may be more reluctant to respond to approaches from anyone in authority who may be seen as more of a threat than a help. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that Councils are developing more policies for handling this kind of unauthorised

use and reference was made to the potential benefits of this in some site managers' comments.

'An on-going problem in X (all over Y area) of unauthorised encampments, while [official] site remaining empty.'

'[Council]-wide, there are strong indications that the co-operation policy is starting to kick in. Major co-operation from encampments is at present taking place.'

The list of known places has continued to grow over recent counts. Even though any one place may be used only occasionally, certain ones are beginning to appear more regularly on successive returns. In some cases, accompanying the count form itself, additional information is included about occasions on which a particular stopping place has been used over the preceding month and the numbers of caravans and vehicles, duration of stay, reasons for visit and sometimes place of origin on each occasion, all of which can help to clarify patterns of use. However, at this stage these are only isolated snapshots.

Across the 31 Councils, the position on known locations in July 2004 can be summarised as follows:

• The great majority of Councils (25) indicated that unauthorised encampments sometimes occurred within their areas.
• Eighteen Councils said that unauthorised use occurred regularly;
• Ten Councils referred to unauthorised use seasonally.
• Three Councils (Argyll & Bute, Highland, S. Ayrshire) indicated places under both headings;
• Of the three Islands Councils only Orkney continued its occasional reference to known locations.
• Six Councils (Dundee; Comhairle nan Eilean Siar; E. Renfrewshire; Glasgow City; N. Lanarkshire and Shetland Islands) said that unauthorised encampment locations of this kind did not occur within their areas.

Table 6 - Number of unauthorised locations occupied at July count in 2002, 2003 and 2004

A total of 122 individual locations was identified across the 25 Council areas. This is very similar to the position in July 2003 (119) but considerably higher than in July 2002 (107). However this does not necessarily represent an increase in unauthorised use, but rather an improvement in local knowledge about locations sometimes used.

However large the number of identifiable locations, the most important factor is the number actually in use at the time of the count. As encampments which are essentially illegal, even if sometimes temporarily tolerated, they are usually occupied for only short periods and chances of this occurring on the day of an official count are lower. Reference has been made by Council site managers in past counts to a clear movement away on the part of occupants immediately before a count date, sometimes to return soon after. In practice the number of places occupied in July 2004 (36) is close to that in July 2003 (39) though both of these are higher than

for 2002 (29). However, as Table 6 shows, these 36 occupied places are concentrated in only about half the Councils (15), though this is more than in the winter months (10). Only between eight and ten Councils recorded places occupied at the time of the past three winter counts, only four recording them in each of the three years (Aberdeenshire; Highland; Fife; Perth & Kinross). A further four identified occupied places in two of the three years (Angus; East Ayrshire; Inverclyde; South Ayrshire), while the others only recorded them on one occasion (Argyll & Bute; Renfrewshire; Aberdeen; East/Midlothian; Edinburgh, Stirling and West Lothian).

Table 7 - Places used for unauthorised encampment recorded in July 2004

(base = 25 Councils)

Table 7 shows the numbers of places identified by each Council as known to be used for unauthorised encampment at times. As well as looking at the situation on the day of the count, the returns also provide some information about the general patterns of use of each of the known locations. As far as use in the past was known, of the places for which information was available:

• 51 (42%) tended to be used every few months;
• 29 (24%) tended to be used every few weeks;
• 42 (34%) were generally occupied only once or twice a year.

In terms of their recent use, in the first six months of this year, the pattern was similar:

• 20 had not been occupied at all over that time;
• About half (53) had been occupied once or twice;
• 39 had been occupied more frequently.

Table 8 shows the use of the 36 places occupied at the time of the July 2004 count. For unauthorised encampments, the count actually asks for information on the number of caravans present. As in the case of the private sites it is necessary to use the same broad rule of thumb, equating one 'caravan' with one 'household' in order to provide a measure of comparison with the more detailed count information on Council sites. Of the 36 occupied locations:

• 16 had been in use for only a few days before the count;
• 10 had been in use for one or two weeks;
• 10 had been occupied for a longer period.

Table 8 - Characteristics of unauthorised locations occupied in July 2004

(base = 15 Councils)

These encampments accounted for a total of 178 households in July 2004. This is a reduction on the two previous summer counts (2002 = 202; 2003 = 186). Numbers on individual encampments ranged from one up to 12 households (one caravan being equated with one household). Fourteen of the encampments had more than five households, three had five, five with four, seven with three, five with two and only two with a single household.

Although the count form asks for simplified information on the places from which the occupiers of unauthorised encampments have come, perhaps predictably, this proves to be limited. Where given, most of the arrivals were said to have come from elsewhere in Scotland or occasionally from an adjacent Council area though there were a number of of incomers from England and Wales. Surprisingly, given past information about their presence, there was no mention of any from Ireland but perhaps they are subsumed under the 'elsewhere in Scotland' heading even though their initial arrival in Scotland may have been from Ireland.

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