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Section 10: The Information Base

The Background

10.1 To be successful and beneficial to all concerned, policies for Travellers depend on a good knowledge base, not just about numbers but also about needs, lifestyles and aspirations. Robust and objective information of this kind is not always easy to obtain. Earlier central government initiatives in Scotland, where a search for effective information as a basis for policy either specifically on, or at least including, Travellers now stretch back more than a century. Key dates in this process include....

10.2 From 1936 there was a fairly long gap until, in the late 1950s and 1960s, significant difficulties for Travellers in Scotland became evident. Section 3 has summarised these and the need to quantify the 'problem' leading to the study published in 1971. It was from this solidly founded research and information base that the first comprehensive Scottish Office policy specifically aimed at improving the lot of the Traveller community was developed. Funding was provided for the purpose as outlined in section 3 and the first Advisory Committee was appointed.

10.3 It is important to emphasise that throughout successive terms the Committee has been very dependent upon its own knowledge base and conscious of the need to encourage those concerned with service delivery to do likewise. While the Committee has never been in a position to undertake its own major research studies, or directly commission research, on the other hand it has been both a focus for information/research and a catalyst for its generation. In this report, we are concerned only with work in the field of information/research in which the Committee itself has played a significant part, though we are also very conscious of additional research undertaken through other agencies and contributing to the expanding body of knowledge. Two earlier Committee Reports made specific recommendations about the need for in depth studies of Scottish Travellers, in one case particularly to identify the issues surrounding New Age Travellers emerging on the Scottish scene at that time (Appendix C - Recommendations 82 and 130)

A Working Group on Research and Information

10.4 A working group was established at the beginning of the Committee's eighth term to find ways to improve knowledge of issues affecting Travellers at the present day and how some of these had changed over the years.

10.5 Two important objectives were identified at the outset. The first was to examine the feasibility and resource implications of a survey of service providers (i.e., the local authorities) on the quality of site provision and management. The second was a complementary survey to give the Travellers' own user perspective on site provision and management, together with information on changes in their wider needs and expectations. An additional objective was to examine ways of monitoring pitch occupancy and Traveller movement.

Achievement of Research Objectives

10.6 During the 1995-97 term the Working Group's activities led to the Scottish Office Central Research Unit commissioning an interview survey of all the local authorities providing Traveller sites (Douglas, 1997). A complete chapter of the eighth Committee's report was devoted to the issue of improving knowledge about Travellers with a specific recommendation about the continuing necessity for obtaining the complementary user perspective (Appendix C - Recommendation 131).

10.7 The work of this group has continued into the current term. Its aims have come to fruition with the commissioning of a joint user study by the Scottish Executive and Scottish Homes. The Working Group provided significant input to the content and methodology of the study and has been closely involved in its steering group. The report of the study is due to be published during 2000 (Lomax, et al - 2000) and will help significantly to bring the picture up to date in a structured way.

A System for Monitoring Numbers

10.8 Remits of successive terms of the Committee have referred to the need for monitoring and for improving knowledge. In its day to day links with local authorities and in successive 'end of term' reports the Committee has always encouraged them to set up information systems about their own Travellers and to maintain these so as to identify changing numbers and patterns of movement and monitor adequacy of site provision. Specific recommendations to this effect were made in the reports of both the Committee's second and third terms. At that time these were essentially about numbers as it was close to the full study (Appendix C - Recommendations 126-128).

10.9 Some local authorities did maintain records, valuable in themselves, but essentially on an individualistic and ad-hoc basis which did not meet the need for a continuing national overview.

10.10 For many years it was a matter of regret to the Committee that the Scottish Office could not be persuaded of the need to:

• set up periodic count systems at local authority level;
• ensure standardisation of content, thus allowing comparability;
• collect and co-ordinate findings from each of the local authorities so as to build up a continuing picture across Scotland.

(It should be noted that all the above had existed in England and Wales for many years on a biannual basis, organised by the then Department of the Environment).

10.11 By the beginning of the 1990s, with no nationally co-ordinated count since 1969, the Committee identified the need for up-to-date information crucial to its ability to advise effectively on policy and realistically monitor progress. It was therefore instrumental in persuading the Scottish Office to undertake a feasibility study and, subsequently, a full national count, the results of which were published in 1993 (Gentleman, 1993).

10.12 Despite the benefits of this count the dependence on yet another 'snapshot in time' and the absence of more continuous data remained a concern for the Committee. Looking ahead, as we move forward into a new set of structures for ensuring that the needs of Travellers continue to be met, one of the things which gives the Committee considerable satisfaction is that, after many years of existing on a series of snapshot views of Traveller presence in Scotland, a system of twice-yearly counts is now in place.

10.13 The new count system was developed and piloted under the guidance of the Research and Information Working Group during the 1995-97 term. That Committee's report noted the success and potential value of the pilot and recommended that it should go ahead as soon as possible on a twice-yearly basis under the auspices of the Scottish Office (Appendix C - Recommendation 129).

10.14 The first full run of the new periodic count was introduced by the Scottish Office in July 1998. This met with a successful response by local authorities, a number of whom specifically commended this approach and felt that it was long overdue. Results were made available to local authorities and other groups with an interest in the welfare of Travellers. Second and third counts took place in January and July 1999, and similarly, the reports have already been made widely available.

10.15 With a fourth count due in January 2000 a growing time-series of centrally collated information on Traveller numbers, on a standardised basis throughout Scotland, is at last becoming available. The Committee sees it as essential that this periodic count is maintained to avoid the need for expensive one-off counts at longer intervals.

10.16 The Committee accepts that no single count of Travellers is completely accurate - it is unlikely that they ever could be. The new system will be of immense value in increasing the accuracy of the picture of Travellers, both those on sites and on the road at different times of the year. As more data becomes available through future counts, the findings will help to show changes in Traveller numbers.

10.17 In order to be able to accurately assess the needs of the Traveller community in the future, an effective information base will be an essential prerequisite at both local and national level. The Committee can only hope - and urge - that this count continues over the years as a guide for those working with and for Travellers in the future.

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