Have Your Say: G/T Accommodation Fund Community Consultation
The Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund is providing up to £20 million to local authorities between 2021-26, for more and better accommodation for Gypsy/Travellers. Demonstration projects are underway in 6 local authority areas.
An essential research project is taking place to find out how well the Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund has worked and to learn lessons for the future.
And we want to hear from you!
The research project is being conducted by Diffley Partnership, an independent research agency, ensuring a fair and unbiased approach to gathering information.
As part of the project, researchers from Diffley will visit the sites where work is taking place, to hear from residents about their experiences.
It is important that Gypsy/Travellers are involved in this piece of work. The Scottish Government is looking for a community member or a small group of community members to help the Research Advisory Group that is guiding the research.
The role will include:
Looking at papers that will be used in the research and giving feedback. For example, telling researchers whether they are clear, whether the language is right, whether they are in keeping with the Gypsy/Traveller culture. This might include information that will be given to residents who are interviewed to explain the research to them and the list of questions to be asked.
Giving advice on the best way to give information to residents and what would encourage them to be involved in interviews, so that views are gathered from as many people as possible.
Looking at the results of the research and giving views on what residents will think of the results.
Giving advice on how to best tell people about the results of the research, including a report for Gypsy/Traveller community members.
The research is taking place between September 2023 and the end of 2025 but you don’t need to commit to being involved the whole way through the research.
The community members involved are welcome to come to Research Advisory Group meetings to give their views. If they don’t want to attend these meetings, they can give their comments to someone who will be at the meeting or meet as a group in advance to discuss.
Community members will be compensated for their time in taking part in this process, at a rate of £10 per hour.
If you are interested in assisting the Research Advisory Group, please contact:
Dorothy Ogle, Scottish Government, Gypsy/Traveller and Residential Mobile Homes Team Lead — dorothy.ogle@gov.scot
Suzanne Munday, MECOPP Gypsy/Traveller Support Service Lead — suzanne@mecopp.org.uk
