Vol. 450 No. 3
65 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for the Environment the action, if any, he intends to take to improve the provision of adequate and suitable accommodation for members of the travelling community throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5073/95]
Each local authority is responsible, as the housing authority for its area, for the planning, initiation and construction of housing and serviced caravan parks for travelling people assessed as in need of such accommodation and unable to provide it from their own resources. My Department's responsibility is to provide the funding required by the authorities for the provision of such accommodation and a general advisory and supervisory service to ensure that technical standards and cost control procedures are observed.
A separate financial allocation is provided to local authorities for the construction of serviced caravan parks for travelling people and the authorities have been informed over the years that additional resources would be provided, in any year, where needed for the construction of such parks. The original annual provisions in each of the last four years were exceeded. The 1995 provision has been increased to £4.5 million which also includes provision for the construction of new group housing schemes for travelling people. This approach has been taken in the light of the interim report of the task force on the travelling community which recommended that a specific capital allocation, separate from the general housing construction allocation, be made for the construction of group housing schemes for travelling people. I will sympathetically consider any further recommendations relating to accommodation which may be included in the final report, which I understand will be finalised by the task force later this year.
