Governments have “comprehensively failed” Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people in the UK for far too long, MPs have warned.
These communities have the worst outcomes of any ethnic group when it comes to education, employment, hate crime and health, an inquiry by parliament’s women and equalities committee found, with many struggling to access services due to discrimination, language and literacy barriers.
But there have been “persistent failures” by policy makers to tackle these inequalities, MPs said in a report published on Friday.
According to research heard by the inquiry, one in five Gypsy Traveller mothers will experience the loss of a child, compared to one in 100 in the non-Traveller community.
The report also found that these communities have a life expectancy 10 to 12 years less than the non-Traveller population.
Meanwhile, a survey carried out by Traveller Movement revealed that 90% of respondents had experienced discrimination and 77% had experienced hate speech or a hate crime.
Tory MP Maria Miller – who chairs the committee – accused the government of filing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people under “too difficult”, saying they were “all too often ‘out of sight and out of mind’”.
“While the number of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people in the UK may be small compared to other groups, the government’s commitment to race equality must reach even the most disenfranchised,” she added.
MPs said, given that “three in four” gypsies and Travellers live in non-caravan accommodation, government policy-making was “overwhelmingly focused” on planning and accommodation issues.
Among the recommendations in the report, the committee called for:
- A pupil passport scheme for children so their education records can travel with them between schools.
- A formal inquiry from the Equality and Human Rights Commission into how strategic needs assessment are including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller health needs.
- More funding to support organisations supporting victims of domestic abuse, with violence against women and girls in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities found to be a “serious and long-standing problem”.
Responding to the findings of the inquiry, communities minister Lord Bourne said: “We recognise that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are amongst the most disadvantaged in our society.
“We are committed to tackling the serious inequalities highlighted by the Race Disparity Audit and have funded six pilot projects that have been working over the last year to improve health, integration and educational outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
“We acknowledge the recommendations of the committee. We will be writing to them with our response to the report in due course.”