South West Forum on Community Cohesion and

Integration19th March 2008

Dealing with Tensions between Dealing with Tensions between Indigenous Communities and Indigenous Communities and

New arrivalsNew arrivals

Ric Pallister – Deputy Leader South Somerset District Council

Andrew Winfield – Principal Consultant IDeA

Definition of Integration and CohesionDefinition of Integration and Cohesion

An integrated and cohesive community is one where: There is a clearly defined and widely shared sense of the

contribution of different individuals and different communities to a future vision for a neighbourhood, city, region or country

There is a strong sense of an individual’s rights and responsibilities when living in a particular place – people know what everyone expects of them, and what they can expect in turn

Those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities, access to services and treatment

There is a strong sense of trust in institutions locally to act fairly in arbitrating between different interests and for their role and justifications to be subject to public scrutiny

There is a strong recognition of the contribution of both those who have newly arrived and those who already have deep attachments to a particular place, with a focus on what they have in common

There are strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and other institutions within neighbourhoods.

300,000 people in the UK 300,000 people in the UK

are Romany Gypsies & are Romany Gypsies & Irish TravellersIrish Travellers

The Battle ground - The Battle ground - Know your enemiesKnow your enemies

• The Public• Gypsies & Travellers

– The minority (ASB)– The majority

• You• & a very few friends• The Horses• The Facts• Circular 1/2006• Government Office• DCLG

• Gypsies & Travellers

• NIMBYs

• Land Owners

• The misguided

• Your settled communities

• Your officers

• Your Cabinet Colleagues

• Fellow members

• Your friends

• The Planning system

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The BattlegroundThe Battleground

• The deep-rooted prejudices against Gypsies and Travellers from within the settled population, often linked to historic incidents, of inappropriate encampments, unauthorised developments and crime and disorder involving that group.

• A failure to appreciate the time required to “educate” and persuade members of the settled communities to cross the “pain” barrier and become involved in a multi-agency approach to finding solutions

• The identification of potential sites that stand any chance of gaining planning approval.

The FactsThe Facts

•41.9% reporting limiting long-term illness – compared to 18.2% of settled population

•Average life expectancy is 12 years less for women & 10 years less for men than the settled population

•17.6% of Gypsy and Traveller mothers have experienced death of a child – compared to 0.9% in settled population. That’s 1 in 5 mums!

•In 2004, 30.2% of Irish Traveller children and 13.5% of Gypsy children achieved 5 A-C grades at GCSE – compared to 51.9% of children in settled population

Barriers to Progress

• The perception of many elected members that, to actively seek solutions for the Gypsy and Traveller community that impact directly on those in the settled community that elect them, is career limiting.

• The high visibility and emotive slant generated through the role of the press in reporting on Gypsy and Traveller issues.

• The lack of knowledge and understanding within the settled population of the issues and discrimination facing the Gypsy and Traveller communities.

What you can doWhat you can do

Talk to your members – use your GO rep Talk to your communities

Parish Councils WI

Explain the History & Culture Put the problem into context - explain the saga over the past 30 years Explain the facts – Education / Health Explain the “do nothing” approach Explain what has to be done Use your Gypsies Roadshows Develop your Council’s strategy – non site specific Engage with surrounding Councils

What you need What you need

Members agreeing to talk about the issue Council agreement on the strategy linked to 1/2006 Police support Community Buy in Some successes!!