Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2020
I am pleased, and members will hear much more about the change in language. We identified that we needed to ask whether our policy demonstrated, in its language and purpose, that it does what it says on the tin. In this case, it did not, so we are now remedying that. I hope that John Finnie will be pleased about that.
As I said, we will work with partners on the longer-term strategic actions in the plan so that the accommodation needs of the Gypsy Traveller community are systematically identified and met.
Everyone should expect good-quality public services, and to be treated with dignity and respect when they access those services. We have heard from Gypsy Travellers that they feel excluded from accessing our public services and that they might often not trust them because of previous experiences of discrimination and poor treatment. The action plan builds on effective work that is already under way in a variety of local settings. One such example is the “Keep well” initiative in my area in Lanarkshire. Its team provides health checks on council sites, private sites, roadside camps and at Gypsy Traveller conventions and meetings. Anyone who has an identified health need is supported to engage with the mainstream services that meet their needs.
As part of the action plan, we have invested £400,000 in three innovative pilot projects with local health and social care partnerships. The projects are aimed at informing how we tackle the health inequalities that are experienced by Gypsy Travellers, and at improving their health and wellbeing. One of those, which is called “Community health matters”, will be run in Grampian and Aberdeenshire. It will recruit and support community health workers from the Gypsy Traveller community to provide health advocacy on a wide range of health and social care issues. The second project, which is called “Mums matter”, is being tested in Fife and aims to improve Gypsy Traveller access to maternal and child health services, as well as to income-maximisation services. The third project, which is called “Communication matters”, will be run by NHS Lothian and will support and train community pharmacists to use health literacy tools and techniques in order to increase awareness and uptake of services among the Gypsy Traveller community.
We have already implemented some practical but simple solutions that can improve information and access to services. For example, we have recently developed general practitioner registration cards for the community, which promote Gypsy Travellers’ right to register at GP practices, and flag up where they might need help with the registration process. It is a simple wee card that can be put in a purse or wallet, or carried in a pocket, but it demonstrates very clearly what people’s rights are, and can be used to access those rights. It is a simple process, but it is absolutely pivotal in the Gypsy Traveller community getting access to GPs. It has been incredibly well received and has had an immediate effect—and not just in the Gypsy Traveller community; refugees and people who are experiencing homelessness now have access to the cards, too.
As we all know, education is key in all this, so let there be no doubt that we want all Gypsy Traveller children and young people to benefit from an education system that is engaging and relevant, and which best prepares them for the future life that they want to live. We want a system that sees education partners collaborating to meet a shared moral and statutory duty to deliver the right to an education, and to provide a positive educational experience for all Gypsy Traveller children.
As part of the action plan, we are investing in an ambitious and focused programme of work that will be taken forward by the Scottish Traveller Education Programme—whose representatives are in the gallery—in collaboration with children and young people, their families and communities, schools and local authorities. The programme includes innovative work—for example, piloting of pre-school family programmes; working with young men to identify pathways to employment; improving training for families and education staff; and trialling of new digital approaches to participation in learning. We know that education is key to avoiding poverty and to moving people out of poverty, so in addition to the work that is being taken forward by STEP, we will invest an initial £500,000 over the lifetime of the child poverty delivery plan to work directly with Gypsy Traveller families and other partners, as part of a tailored children and families community education programme. Crucially, it will be a flexible approach that maximises the benefits for the whole family. It will be developed and delivered with the full involvement of the Gypsy Traveller community.
Members of the Gypsy Traveller communities are at high risk of experiencing poverty, whether they are in work or not. Living costs can be excessively high and incomes are often too low. The “Mums matter” project will go some way towards addressing that. We are working hard to help to improve incomes and access to employment, and to ensure that families get all the financial support to which they are entitled. Further to that, we want to ensure that families also access programmes that are designed to alleviate poverty, including parent employment support programmes and energy efficiency programmes, which can be missed by families who live in non-traditional accommodation settings.
Through the ministerial working group and visits to sites we have heard harrowing examples of the racism that is targeted at the Gypsy Traveller community. Working with COSLA, which will take the work forward, one of the key actions in the plan is to create a local leaders programme that will support champions in every part of the country to stand up for Gypsy Traveller rights and encourage a positive shift in attitudes at local level. I encourage all members of the Scottish Parliament to be part of the local leadership work in their constituency or region.