To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions have been taken in pursuance of the commitments undertaken by the Ministerial Working Group on tacking inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers in their progress report of April 2012; and what further meetings have taken place, with what outcomes, since that date.

The Ministerial Working Group on Gypsies and Travellers was convened as an ad hoc meeting to discuss inequalities experienced by the Gypsy and Traveller community. This working group resulted in the publication of a progress report which included 28 commitments made by the Departments represented on it, with the aim of helping mainstream services work more effectively with Gypsies and Travellers.

Since the report, Ministers have not needed to meet to implement the agreed policy, as this has been delegated to the Civil Service. There have been regular meetings between Gypsy and Traveller organisations and officials across Whitehall to discuss the progress made against the Government’s commitments, and wider action to improve the social outcomes of Gypsies and Travellers. We intend to publish a follow up report in due course.

I have deposited in the Library of the House a document with a summary of progress so far against each of the 28 commitments with links to where further information can be found.

This Answer included the following attachment: 28 Commitments (Gypsies and Travellers commitments -DEPOSITEDPAPER-455504 (HL2504).doc)