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Irish Traveller Accommodation Strategy 2020-2025

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Irish Traveller Accommodation Strategy 2020-2025 Document History Document Owner The owner of this document is: Elma Newberry, Assistant Director, Land & Regeneration Services Document Location This document is only valid on the day it was printed and the electronic version is located in N. I. Housing Executive, Land & Regeneration Services, 2nd Floor Housing Centre, 2 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8PB. Document Status The current status for this document is DRAFT Revision History Date of next revision: Version Revision date Previous Summary of changes number revision date 0.1 N/A N/A Approvals This document requires approvals to be signed off and filed in project files Name Title Date of Version issue Elma Newberry AD, L&RS Siobhan McCauley DRS Board Distribution This document has been distributed as follows Name Title Date of Version issue 2 Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 6 Overview of the Strategy: Vision, Outcomes, Aims and Objectives ..................................................... 10 Acknowledgements: Stakeholder Engagement .................................................................................... 11 2.0 Strategic Context ....................................................................................................................... 12 3.0 Irish Traveller Accommodation ................................................................................................. 19 4.0 What we have done .................................................................................................................. 22 5.0 What we know: Reviewing Data and Evidence ......................................................................... 24 Objective 1: Develop a Traveller-Specific Accommodation Needs Assessment ................................... 33 Objective 3: To support the Irish Traveller community to remain in their accommodation of choice through easily accessible housing services ........................................................................................... 46 Objective 4: To create mechanisms that foster good relations for the Irish Traveller Community ..... 50 6.0 Implementation and Monitoring .............................................................................................. 53 APPENDIX 1: Legislative Framework and Guidance .............................................................................. 65 List of Tables Table 1: Age structure of Irish Traveller population and Northern Ireland population (2011 Census) 25 Table 2: Distribution of Irish Travellers Households in Northern Ireland by local government district (2011 Census) ........................................................................................................................................ 26 Table 3: Estimated number of Irish Travellers (individuals) in Northern Ireland - various sources ..... 27 Table 4: Status of Site Licence Applications (Housing Executive-owned sites) at spring 2020 ............ 42 List of Figures Figure 1: Preferred future location of respondents who stated a preference for alternative accommodation .................................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 2: Proportion of Irish Traveller Households by Accommodation Type (Housing Executive surveys, 2008-2019) .............................................................................................................................. 31 Figure 3: Traveller-specific accommodation provided by housing bodies in Northern Ireland (2020) 38 3 Foreword Introduction by the Chairman and Chief Executive The Irish Traveller community is long established in Northern Ireland and its history and traditions stretch back many years. However, Irish Travellers are also among the most disadvantaged and marginalised people living in Northern Ireland and can face multiple deprivations in relation to health and well-being, housing, education, racism, mortality and discrimination. The Race Relations (NI) Order 1997 identifies the Irish Traveller community as an ethnic minority thereby making it unlawful for members of the community to be discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity. In 2003, the strategic role and responsibility for the provision of accommodation for Irish Travellers was transferred from local District Councils to the Housing Executive under the Housing (NI) Order 2003. The Housing Executive supports the right for everyone to have access to decent adequate housing. Our corporate vision is that “Everyone is able to live in an affordable and decent home, appropriate to their needs, in a safe and attractive place”. We are therefore pleased to present the Irish Travellers Accommodation Strategy 2020- 2025 (the Strategy) which sets out how we plan to provide Irish Travellers with access to good quality, culturally appropriate housing accommodation which fosters a sustainable, vibrant Traveller community and promotes inclusion, a sense of belonging and security. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to those organisations, services users and our own staff within the Housing Executive who took the time to work with us in the development of this Strategy. Their input was invaluable and, we hope, has resulted in a Strategy which will lead to improved housing outcomes for Irish Travellers. In addition to those who worked with us in the development of this Strategy we also wish to thank those individuals and organisations who submitted consultation responses. The Strategy proposes a number of key actions and includes an implementation plan laying out a work programme over the next five years to achieve these. The success of this Strategy goes beyond ‘bricks and mortar’ and the task ahead will not be easy but we are confident that we can work with our partners across all sectors to face the challenges required to ensure the provision, and sustainability of suitable, culturally 4 sensitive Irish Traveller accommodation which addresses housing need and protects and promotes Irish Travellers’ cultural identity in NI. Professor Peter Roberts, Chair Clark Bailie, Chief Executive 5 Executive Summary What’s the issue? Planning for, providing and managing culturally sensitive Irish Traveller accommodation is both complex and challenging. Accommodation is linked with a range of deprivation factors experienced by Irish Travellers such as health and well-being, education, racism, mortality and discrimination (see Section 2.0). There is no one single solution to the many challenges experienced by Irish Travellers. However, by improving the condition of the accommodation in which they live, where this is possible, and seeking to provide additional accommodation where it is needed, we can help reduce some of these problems and contribute to improved overall outcomes for the Irish Traveller community. Background The strategic role and responsibility for the provision of accommodation for Irish Travellers was transferred from local District Councils to the Housing Executive in 2003 under the Housing (NI) Order 2003. The Housing Executive has conducted research into Traveller accommodation in NI since 2002 which has helped inform the development and provision of Traveller accommodation over this period. The 4th Irish Traveller Accommodation Survey 2018/19 was completed in January 2020 and is the supplementary evidence used to inform this Irish Travellers Accommodation Strategy 2020-2025. The Strategy This Strategy aims to: Address the range of accommodation needs of Irish Travellers; Ensure the provision of adequate and suitable accommodation for Irish Travellers that meets their needs, promotes their equality of opportunity and promotes good relations among Traveller households and between Travellers and other members of the community. The Strategy has four objectives: 1) To develop a Traveller Specific Accommodation Needs Assessment; 6 2) To provide safe and culturally appropriate accommodation for Irish Travellers to reside and travel to; 3) To support the Irish Traveller community to remain in their accommodation of choice through easily accessible housing services; 4) To create mechanisms that foster good relations for the Irish Traveller community. Key Actions The Strategy contains 12 key actions: 1. To review our housing application and housing solution processes to ensure Travellers are aware of the full range of Traveller-specific accommodation options; 2. To continue to develop our ethnic monitoring and record keeping systems, including the collection of data on Irish Traveller communities, to better understand the impact of housing services and to help inform future planning and service provision; 3. To adapt our Housing Needs Assessment methodology to facilitate the assessment of Traveller-specific accommodation needs; 4. To undertake a review of transit sites to establish, through a generated needs assessment, the existing and future demand for transit sites in NI within the Irish Traveller community; 5. To undertake a strategic review of all our Traveller sites to identify options for their future improvement or replacement. We will also review the current emergency halting, transit or serviced site classifications for each of our sites to ensure they reflect how the sites are being used in practice; 6. To investigate
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