Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, raised the issue of gypsy pitch provision in Westminster Hall yesterday.
Gavin spoke during a debate on Gypsy and Traveller Policy, chaired by Labour MP Linda Riordan.
In his intervention, Gavin queried the way in which the provision of pitches for Gypsy and Traveller populations was being determined.
A Salford University report, published in 2008 - which saw data collected from Gypsy and Traveller populations - suggested that pitch provision in South Staffordshire would need to be more than doubled between the years of 2007 and 2027.
Referring to this report, Gavin said: “Does my hon. Friend share my concern about how supply is determined? Salford University undertook a study, including in my own constituency, that basically asked the Gypsy and Traveller populations how many pitches they thought they would require during the next 15 to 20 years.
“Unsurprisingly, the number was very substantial: the Gypsies and Travellers deemed that they needed a 60 percent increase in the supply of pitches in quite a short period.”
Julian Sturdy, MP for York, added: “I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. In fact, he might have been reading my speech… As we all know, under the national planning policy framework local authorities have sole responsibility for assessing the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers in their area. I am not saying that it is an easy task—far from it; it is very difficult. However, I am concerned that there are insufficient checks and balances in place to ensure that these assessments are being carried out in an objective and proportionate manner.
“York City Council has assessed that it requires more than 80 pitches for Gypsies, Travellers and show people during the 15-year life cycle of its local plan, but when my constituents and I reviewed the figures and the methodology used for identifying that specific need, we found some disturbing inaccuracies and errors, which suggests the council is proposing to provide for well above the ‘appropriate level of supply’ required.