Who are Gypsies and Travellers?
The Gypsy and Traveller community in England and Wales is composed of Gypsies and Irish Travellers and other Traveller groups such as New Travellers. There are said to be 90-120,000 nomadic Gypsies and Travellers but according to some as many as a further 200,000 of Gypsy and Traveller ancestry are living in housing. The exact figure is difficult to estimate as their numbers are not recorded at present in census records. The Issue During the post-war period as a result of increased development and changes in the law, Gypsy and Traveller families, many of whom, were forced off the land they owned, found it increasingly difficult to find stopping places, this brought them into greater conflict with the settled non-Traveller community. In 1968 the Caravan Sites’ Act placed a duty on local authorities to establish sites for the Gypsy and Traveller community. Provision only began to grow rapidly with the allocation of 100% grants from central government in 1980 following the recommendation
