Improving the Lives of Scotland's Gypsy/ Travellers 2: action plan 2024-2026 - easy read

1. Accommodation and planning

Accommodation is where people live.

The planning system is how decisions are made about how land is used and what can be built on it.

What communities told us:

• more sites are needed - areas where Gypsy/Traveller families can stay together
• more pitches are needed – the space a family lives in on the site

The Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund has given money for this but there are now less sites.

• need better accommodation and better standards

Standards explain what level of quality people should expect from a service.

Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund projects are making some sites better.

• need more choice of accommodation like:
• council or housing association sites
• houses
• private yards – land to live on permanently
• transit sites – to camp on for up to 3 months
• stopping places – to camp on for a short time

It is important to recognise that different age groups of families may live together, like children, parents and grandparents.

Families need space to grow.

People need to know and understand what their rights are.

• need better communication and understanding about:
  • what planning is
  • what issues planning can help with

Local communities need advice and support on how to understand and use the planning process.

Objective 1

Keep funding the Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund projects.

Get information from them to share with future projects.

Objective 2

Work with COSLA to get facts, figures and information.

Look at the best way to fund Gypsy/Traveller accommodation from 2026.

Objective 3

Make sure there are good standards of accommodation and ways for it to improve.

Objective 4

Make an Accommodation Needs Toolkit to support planners to understand the different types of accommodation needed.

Objective 5

Do work on the recommendations from the Negotiated Stopping Pilot – a way for Gypsy/Travellers to talk to the council about staying for an agreed amount of time in safe stopping places and following council rules.

Objective 6

Make a new guide to the planning system.

People from the Gypsy/Traveller community must be involved in the development of planning guides

Objective 7

Share advice for planners about:

• how best to contact Gypsy/Traveller communities
• the culture of Gypsy/Traveller communities

Culture means:

• their traditions and customs like the language they use, the clothes they wear or the songs they sing
• the ways people express themselves