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UNAUTHORISED ENCAMPMENTS

The Gypsy/Traveller population in Scotland continues to rely on unauthorised encampment. This is more marked in the summer, traditionally the time of greater mobility both of indigenous Scottish Travellers and seasonal incomers from south of the border or across the sea from Ireland. Use of this kind of stopping place also continues during the winter despite adverse weather, particularly in parts of the Highlands.

In summer returns over the past nine years unauthorised encampments have accounted for an average of one in three of all households. In the winter over the same nine years it has averaged one in seven (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Gypsy/Traveller households recorded on unauthorised encampments as a proportion of all recorded households : winter and summer - July 1998 to January 2007

As with private sites, the rule of thumb measure of one 'caravan' being equivalent to one 'household' provides an estimate of the number of households and people. The January 2007 counts recorded a total of 97 'households' representing just under 300 people.

In urban areas unauthorised encampments are usually on waste land, particularly associated with the fringes of industrial estates rather than close to housing, though the latter also occur and are often a cause for local complaints. In rural Scotland it may be in corners of farmland, roadside verges or cut-offs or on the shores of sea or loch. Many Gypsies/Travellers move via regular routes and know places where they can stop, sometimes traditional places which are returned to year after year or over generations. Some such places are either out of sight or may be tolerated by landowners for short periods or under certain conditions.

Compared with Council sites and even the private sites, where residents are likely to be fairly static, or movement patterns are known, the fact that the count is one day snapshot means that chances of unauthorised encampment at a known point on the count date can be low. By choice, such encampments may not be easily visible, particularly in rural areas. Alternatively, even if an encamp-ment has been accepted by the authorities for a brief period, it may suddenly be vacant at the count date even though it may have been occupied for some time beforehand and subsequently. Over recent years the part of the count form dealing with such encampments has been modified to give a better idea of patterns of use of places known to be occupied at different times. Additionally, one or two Councils have started to provide supplementary lists of occupancy places and dates, sometimes also with numbers of households and duration of occupation which helps to build up a fuller picture (see blow).

For some Gypsies/Travellers, unauthorised camping may be the only option. Three mainland Councils still have no official sites, though Gypsies/Travellers are known to frequent their areas. The three Island Councils have demonstrated little or no demand justifying permanent provision, though summer visits have occasionally been recorded in Orkney. Increasing levels of long-term tenancy on Council sites leads to few casual vacancies although in January 2007 one return noted that 'Travellers who cannot access our site are informed of other sites in neighbouring Council areas with vacancies, but for whatever reason they don't apply?'. The fairly small number of private sites, their generally small size and more restricted access also limits them as alternative options. Even where official provision exists, other reasons may inhibit access. Households with a history of rent arrears or other tenancy problems, either there or in another Council's area, are unlikely to be permitted on Council sites. Some will not be accepted by existing residents who otherwise will leave. Perhaps more than these, there are individual households or larger groups, particularly visitors from the south or from Ireland, who, by choice, will never use an official site. Others, passing through an area for work or personal reasons, may only be stopping only for a night or two and prefer to take their chance on an unauthorised place.

Such patterns have existed for many years and there has been a long-standing pressure from within Gypsy/Traveller communities for provision of some kind of accepted short-term stopping places as well as the official and increasingly residential sites. Again a comment in the current count notes this issue: 'Official site at (x) has been closed since 2004. (X) Council are looking for alternative locations within (local area) to provide transit sites'. These situations seem unlikely to disappear and, with a view to assisting local authorities to manage the incidence of unauthorised camping, the Scottish Executive issued Guidelines in December 2004.

The picture of unauthorised encampment in the twice-yearly counts is constantly changing and depends on the quality of local knowledge built up by Council site managers or other Council staff which may be difficult to maintain in larger and more remote areas or where those people change over time. It also generally is dependent upon a variety of local contacts such as staff in other parts of a Council or perhaps from local police or other services. As with private sites, information for the twice-yearly count is more sparse than for Council sites, often just based on observation or the willingness/ability of a Council site manager or other official to make some kind of positive contact with those on unauthorised encampments. Here, much depends on the circumstances of their presence. Willingness to provide some information may be greater if they are trying to get access to a local Council site or, as sometimes happens, are accepted briefly on the place where they are stopping and assisted with a few basic services. Where individuals or groups are passing through or trying to spend as long as possible before being moved, they may be more reluctant to respond to approaches from officials who they see as a threat rather than a help. However, as noted above, more detailed information is beginning to be recorded by some Councils.

Table 5 summarises the position in January 2007:

• The great majority of Councils (26) referred to unauthorised camping within their areas, either regularly or on a seasonal basis, between them identifying a total of 124 individual places;
• Only five Councils (Clackmannan, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar; E. Renfrewshire; Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands) identified no unauthorised encampment within their areas.

Many of the same places are identified in successive counts, although some disappear and other new locations emerge. Again it was noted on this occasion by one Council that 'it appears the Travellers are finding and using new areas, where they have never camped previously. I am sure this is because of all the new houses that are being built in our area'. Consequently the gradually increasing number probably reflects better awareness and improved record keeping, perhaps in the context of Councils' changing approaches to handling this kind of encampment. More important, from the point of view of the counts, is the number actually occupied on the recorded date. In most cases such encampments are usually occupied for only short periods and the likelihood of this occurring on the day of an official count is therefore lower. In practice the number of places occupied in January 2007 (19) is lower that of the previous winter (24), but in one or two instances Councils noted that places had been occupied very shortly before. It seems very likely that Gypsies/Travellers are quite aware of the count and either move - or perhaps are moved -beforehand.

Table 6 summarises the patterns of use of the 19 places actually occupied at the time of the January 2007 count. Of these:

• Two had been in use for only a few days before the count;
• Eleven had been in use for one or two weeks;
• Six had been occupied for a longer period;

In terms of their use over the previous six months:

• Three had been used once or twice in that time;
• Fifteen had been used more frequently.

In terms of their more general frequency of use over a longer period the majority seemed to be in very regular use:

• Thirteen were said to be used every few weeks;
• Four appeared to be used every few months;
• Two were more rarely used, perhaps only once or twice a year;

Numbers on individual encampments were generally small, ranging between one and nine caravans (households).

Table 5 - Places recorded in the January 2007 count as used at times for unauthorised encampment
(Base = 31 Councils)

Table 6 - Characteristics of unauthorised encampments occupied in January 2007
(Base = 10 Councils recording occupied encampments)

Unauthorised Encampments - One Council's experience

Comprehensive information on individual unauthorised encampments has been shared by one Council. This illustrates the nature of this kind of use of stopping places over a six month period up to the January 2007 count, perhaps reflecting ways in which Councils are adopting more progressive policies and better managing such situations.

A total of 34 separate unauthorised encampments were recorded by this Council at some point during the six months on 13 separate locations, in turn grouped across five general localities within that Council's area. These are only part of a greater number of locations known to be used at other times over recent years. Seven encampments were on private land, the rest council-owned. Overall, they involved 48 families (133 adults, 99 children), 69 caravans and 89 vehicles *.

Most places were used only occasionally within the period and ten only once. In contrast, two places, both within the council's main town, accounted for ten and seven encampments respectively and another location for four. Most visits were in the later summer: August/September, or occasionally October. A few instances occurred later in the autumn or even the beginning of the new year, emphasising the greater summer predominance of such use. The great majority involved very small groups, just one or two families, but with one instance of three families and two instances of four. Only one large group (of Irish Travellers) was recorded, involving seven caravans and nine vehicles, though how many families this comprised is unclear and their stay was for only a couple of days.

Apart from two or three instances where people were allowed to remain for long periods, the duration of most stays reflected the essentially transitory nature of such encampments. Reasons for the visits were not always available, but in most cases referred to 'passing through', or 'visiting'. A few were seeking to settle locally, e.g.'want a long stay; have submitted a housing application.' or 'intending to seek permanent location in this Council's area'. Some were classed as 'local Traveller' (and presumably familiar to Council staff) or as 'seasonal Traveller' (therefore likely to be moving on elsewhere). Only in a few instances were there references to work, e.g.'looking for a place to stay while working locally' (the large Irish group) or 'gathering whelks' (two families of Scottish GypsiesTravellers). Movement patterns are sometimes suggested, e.g.'from Montrose area, passing through'; 'from Fife'; 'from Newcastle, heading towards Inverness'; 'Just returned from Skye'; 'moved away to Arbroath'; 'moving back to England'; 'returning to Edinburgh' etc., but there were occasional indications that individuals or groups had already been there earlier in the year,

Duration varied widely, but can be summarized as 12 encampments used, either by choice or being allowed, for just a few days (up to four or five); ten encampments for a week/ten days; and a further four for around a fortnight. At the opposite end of the spectrum three encampments had been allowed to remain for around seven weeks between last August and September/ October (one awaiting a house and the others 'visiting') while another person had stayed for as long as ten weeks from November to early January, in this instance seeking a house to be near parents housed locally.

References to 'community complaints' about the presence of Gypsies/Travellers are fairly rare. For nearly two-thirds of encampments no complaints were indicated, the great majority of these (16) being on Council land, though four were on private land. In five instances a few complaints (1-3) were mentioned, or in a similar number are referred to as 'numerous'. The basis for complaint generally appears fairly minor, e.g.'dog barking', 'Alsatian attacking a member of the public', 'youths shouting at him', the last of which one suspects might well have not been made had it not involved 'Gypsies/Travellers'. In some instances investigation by Council staff suggested the complaints were unfounded. A few of the complaints referred to amounts of rubbish left behind or just the fact that 'they [ i.e. the Gypsies/Travellers] were there', a not uncommon complaint in such circumstances.

The final item recorded was the site condition once vacated. Here, all but a very few of the encampments were 'clean and tidy', sometimes with added comment such as '…. as always following this family', or even 'spotless', while two Traveller families respectively themselves '…expressed disgust concerning the state of the place as left by the previous incumbents' and '….disappointment that the place had been so badly treated by the previous Travellers'. Down the scale, there were a couple of references to 'slight mess'; 'a bit of a mess left', 'a lot of rubbish left' or, in one instance where although the rest of the ground had been left clean and tidy ….. 'portaloos (which the Council had provided) have been up-ended' . The worst site condition, not caused by the occupants themselves but possibly a reflection of local reaction to unauthorised encampments and an incentive for them to leave, was on private ground near housing where it was noted that the 'Travellers moved on to Skye after having farmyard manure etc. dumped at their caravan doors'.

*This Council's data also provides the first real evidence of continuing use of traditional 'bender' tents as supplementary accommodation. There has been little reference to these in counts, other than occasionally anecdotally but, as well as caravans, here a single tent wasrecorded on four encampments and another two noted the use, if not the number, of tents.

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