Having a place to live is an essential prerequisite for health. Poor housing has been linked to increased levels of limiting long term illness, respiratory and infectious diseases, injuries, psychological problems and perceived poor general health and even increased mortality. Children and young people are among those most at risk.
The highest risks to health in housing are associated with cold, damp and mouldy conditions; the strongest links appear to be between reported illness in children and dampness and mould. Poor housing also increases the risk of fire and accidents. Overcrowded accommodation increases the risk of infectious disease and also impacts on mental health through factors such as high noise levels and lack of privacy.
In general, worse housing conditions are found in private rented accommodation, older owner occupied houses and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). A lack of adequate, affordable housing can aggravate other problems associated with low income. Homeless people tend to have higher rates of physical and mental illness and rates of alcohol and drug dependence and poorer access to health care than those with homes.
Those with cold homes may resort to using freestanding gas appliances to heat them. Nitrogen oxides from gas appliances may increase asthmatic symptoms by enhancing atopic responses to allergens. Cold homes are often damp homes. Dampness adds to an increased level of house dust mites and fungal spores, increasing an individual’s risk of respiratory or allergic symptoms.
Disadvantaged individuals are likely to spend more time in the home due to unemployment and lack of leisure opportunities, resulting in higher levels of exposure to any hazards in the home.
Housing involves complex health, social and socio-economic factors, and the main elements affecting poor outcomes for children and young people include:
- Agents that affect the quality of the indoor environment such as indoor pollutants like carbon monoxide, mould spores, lead pipes or paint, asbestos, radon or volatile organic chemicals
- Overcrowding, cold and damp, infestations, noise, dangerous structures, and poor design and layout (especially with regards to accessibility)
- Neighbourhood safety (including crime and disorder), cleanliness, access to suitable shops and services, parks and green spaces.
- Lack of, or insecure housing; and the stigma, distress and social exclusion associated with homelessness or frequent moves.
On the whole, research indicates that there is an association between homes with visible damp or mould and the prevalence of asthma or respiratory problems among children. Dampness and mould have also been found to be associated with exacerbated symptoms among children with asthma or wheezing illness. Poor quality housing can have an adverse effect on children’s psychological well-being. Parents and children both complain of the social stigma of living in bad housing. Overcrowding and cooking with gas may cause respiratory infections in preterm infants.
Child Protection
It is well accepted that annual child protection data should not be taken as a measure of maltreatment itself. Children placed on the register have an inter-agency protection plan and include some who are not abused but thought to be at risk and exclude many who are known to have been abused as well as the probably far greater number whose abuse is not known to agencies.
Care should therefore be taken in the interpretation of the statistics. They are not estimates of the number of children subject to abuse, as not every case is reported and many child abuse referrals are resolved without the need to enter the child on the register. Furthermore, some cases will be on a register because it was considered there was a likelihood of future abuse.
National Trends
The table below shows the number and rate of children on the child protection register by local authority as at 31st March 2005 and 2006.
Children on the Child Protection Registers 2005-6
The main findings for the national data in the year ending 31 March 2006 are:
· There were 2,163 children on child protection registers (including unborn children) at 31 March 2006, a decrease of 5 per cent compared to 31 March 2005. This represents a rate of 33 children per 10,000 population, based on the estimated mid-2005 population aged under 18 of 646,800.
· 2,870 children were added to registers during the year ending 31 March 2006, an increase of 3 per cent over the previous year. The number of children removed from the registers over the year increased by 11 per cent to 2,971.
· There were 1,069 boys, 1,079 girls and 15 unborn children on the registers at 31 March 2006.
· 71 per cent of the children on the registers at 31 March 2006 were aged 9 years or under.
· The risk of neglect was stated in 57 per cent of registrations, more frequent than any other abuse category (note that registrations may state more than one category of risk).
· The risk of sexual abuse was stated in 10 per cent of registrations.
The chart below shows the rate of children (per 10,000 children aged under 18 based on the Registrar General’s estimate of population at 30 June in the previous calendar year) on the child protection register by Local Authority as at 31st March 2005 and 31 March 2006.
As at 31 March 2005, Torfaen is shown to have the highest Child Protection rates in Wales, significantly higher than the Welsh average. Data for 31 March 2006 shows that there has been a reduction in the rate of children on the child protection register across Torfaen and particularly in Wales.
Between 31 March 2005 and 31 March 2006 Torfaen experienced the 3rd highest reduction in Wales for this period, a drop of 24.3% from 2005. This is compared to an all Wales reduction of just 4.7%.
Analysis of the all Wales data for the category of abuse over the period 1996 to 2006 shows that there have been several trends. Since 1996, the numbers of children recorded on registers under categories involving sexual abuse have fallen from 18 per cent to 10 per cent. For the same period, categories involving neglect have shown an increase from 32 per cent to 57 per cent and emotional abuse from 18 per cent to 19 per cent. At 31 March 2006 24 per cent of children on registers were considered to be at risk of physical abuse. (These percentages sum to more than 100 per cent as some children were registered under more than one abuse category.)
Gypsies and Travellers
The WAG is committed to ensuring that members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities should have the same access to decent and appropriate accommodation as every other citizen and that there are sufficient resources available to meet their needs. To meet this aim, the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers have been mainstreamed within the wider housing and planning systems.
The Housing Act 2004 requires local authorities to assess the needs of Gypsies and Travellers in the area and develop strategies to meet the needs. It also states that, where the shortage of sites is a particular problem, local authorities are expected to make this a priority, with the Secretary of State able to direct them if necessary.
The WAG Guidance contains important statements on the nature of need in this context. It states that Gypsies’ and Travellers’ accommodation needs can extend beyond those of the settled community to reflect their distinctive accommodation requirements. This includes bricks and mortar dwelling households
‘…whose existing accommodation is overcrowded or unsuitable (‘unsuitable’ in this context can include unsuitability by virtue of a proven psychological aversion to bricks and mortar accommodation)
‘It should also be recognised that the shortage of sites and local hostility, as well as lack of income, may prevent Gypsies and Travellers exercising their free choice in the accommodation market – and that there may in fact be no ‘local accommodation market’ in sites.
Although the guidance does not quite complete the thought process to a single short definition of housing need in the context of Gypsies and Travellers, the trend of thought seems clear enough:
Gypsy and Traveller accommodation need goes beyond financial constraints and the standard categories of unsuitability; it also includes accommodation made unsuitable due to the psychological effects brought about by giving up the traditional, caravan-based life.
There is a serious shortage of sites for Gypsies and Travellers across the country and this has led to a growing tendency for Gypsies and Travellers to buy land and develop it without planning permission. A study for the The Welsh Assembly Government suggested that there was a considerable shortage of accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers. It stated that between 2005 and 2010, between 250 and 400 permanent site places would be required, as would 100 to 150 transit pitches.
In view of this the Government has introduced a number of reforms, which have important implications for the provision of Gypsy and Traveller sites. The Government’s aim is to ensure that members of the Gypsy and Traveller community have the same access to decent and appropriate accommodation as every other citizen and that there are sufficient sites to meet their needs.
Under new measures introduced in the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to include Gypsies and Travellers in their Local Housing Needs Assessment process and to have a strategy in place which sets out how any identified need will be met as part of their wider Housing Strategy. The new Planning Circular 01/2006 requires local authorities to identify appropriate sites in local plans for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation.
Situation in Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil has a small residential population. There is one local authority site at Glyn Mill with fourteen pitches and a further ten that were decommissioned in March 2006 following transfer of the site from the Gypsy Council to Merthyr Tydfil CBC. Since then it has also been inhabited by some non-Gypsies / Travellers. The previous management arrangements proved unpopular with some residents, who moved off the site into housing, meaning that the Council took over a half empty site, which led to the decommissioning of the vacant pitches.
There is a also one private site on a local farmer’s land, occupied by one Gypsy / Traveller family. There are an estimated twenty families living in housing. There are infrequent unauthorised encampments in the County Borough, with families staying up for a week.
The local authority site has 14 functioning pitches (another 14 are closed because of inadequate facilities), and that there are seven families on the waiting list for the site. There are no known unauthorised developments in the area, and minimal unauthorised encampments. The Housing Department do not record Gypsies and Travellers as a distinct ethnic group, so no data is collected on the number living in bricks and mortar accommodation, but the presence of seven families on the waiting list indicates that there are some families living in housing in the area.
Existing research into Gypsies and Travellers suggests that the legislation implemented since the 1960s has negatively impacted on Gypsy and Traveller communities, with the Housing Act 2004 and subsequent guidance designed to address this imbalance. The Race Relation Amendment Act 2000 has afforded Gypsies and Irish Travellers legal protection against discrimination, including from housing authorities.
However, it is apparent from the research that the most pressing issue remains that of inadequate permanent and transit site provision. Despite increased powers for local authorities to deal with anti-social behaviour and to evict where necessary, the government has acknowledged that increased site provision is the most effective means of dealing with unauthorised developments and encampments.
The GTA Assessment involved interviewing gypsy and travelling families living on the local authority site and in bricks and mortar accommodation. Most of the families living on the local authority site had been there for several years and all except for one expected to stay there indefinitely.
Concerns were raised over the security on site, the condition of the amenities blocks and accessibility to local services. No participants were satisfied with their accommodation. There was evidence of some families ‘doubling up’ and sharing their pitch with another family. It was also suggested by some participants that some residents were not in fact Gypsies and Travellers, having moved to the site from housing. However all participants said they were Welsh Travellers.
18 interviews were carried out with Gypsies and Travellers living in housing, comprising over half of all interviews. It is noticeable that half had previously lived on the local authority site in the County Borough and several more on unauthorised encampments. Most of these participants wanted to return to living on a site. Overall however satisfaction with current accommodation was high, with participants praising the improved access to services and better utilities.
Access to Services:
A number of stakeholders commented that the abilities of the Gypsies and Travellers living at Glyn Mill Caravan Park were restricted due to the physical barrier of where their site was placed. There is no safe access to and from the town as the site is located between two carriageways and this is believed to hinder access to local services.
Access to education services was felt to be mixed. Traveller Education believed that although not all school aged children attended school regularly, attendance was good for the community. Traveller Education remarked that attendance has increased to approximately 80% at primary school level for families on the site and those in bricks and mortar accommodation.
The physical barrier of the location of the site is not a factor in school attendance as the Local Authority organise transportation for the children due to the dangerous roads. There did appear to be a drop off for transfers from primary school to secondary school; it was often the case that English and basic maths were seen as necessary skills that could be picked up in primary school and that there was no need for the education offered at secondary level.
At the stage of transfer it was reported that it was often the case that the boys would go and work with their father and the girls would help their mothers until they had their own families, which was much earlier than their counterparts in the settled community.
Access to heath services was seen as mixed. Registration with local GP’s was not seen as a problem and local Gypsies and Travellers often insisted on the best care available to them. Midwives did not convey problems gaining access to the site and made visits for children up to five years old on the site. Immunisations were not an acceptable risk to the Gypsies / Travellers.
The local NHS Trust revealed that they were aware of health needs that the community faced; such as the link between family size and deprivation, however they felt that they would need to explore these further so as to fully understand them and to gain resources before they could act upon this need.
Nearly half (47%) of all participants felt they had been the victim of racism, crime or bullying because of who they were, although none had reported this to the Police. Relations with the settled community were reported as strained although participants were uncertain how this could be improved.
All of Merthyr Tydfil’s relevant documents (Local Housing Strategy, BME Housing Strategy, Homelessness Strategy, Community Strategy and Supporting People Strategy) make reference to the County Borough’s Gypsy and Traveller community; however only the Supporting People document referred to Actions that were to be made to address difficulties that this community experienced.
Conclusions and recommendations from the report include:
There is a shortage of residential accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers in Merthyr Tydfil. There is evidence of overcrowding and doubling-up on the Glyn Mill local authority site and a need from those who moved off due to poor management some years ago.
Based on survey participants’ preferences and views on whether they would be able to afford their own land, the need will have to be met on socially rented sites. A cost effective way to meet this need would be to bring back into use the decommissioned pitches at the Glynn Mill site.
Facilities, access and service provision
Overall satisfaction with the site was low, as was the satisfaction with the amenity blocks.
Applying for funding to refurbish the amenity blocks could enhance the overall level of satisfaction on the site. A transparent method of reporting damage and claiming repairs should also be considered.
Access to local services was reported as difficult for those who did not have access to private transportation.
It is recommended that the needs of residents are taken into account when planning future transport plans.
Participants noted that fly tipping on the site occurred regularly and implied that this was not carried out by residents. For this reasons they requested a series of measure that could prevent this.