Landmark decision by Scottish Parliament to recognise Scottish Travellers

15 August 2001

On June 27, 2001, according to the Scottish national daily newspaper The Herald, the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Scottish Parliament issued a report in which they declared that Scottish Travellers constitute a distinct ethnic group - the first time that Travellers in Scotland have been recognised as such. The committee stated that they should be treated as a separate ethnic group until such time as a test case could be brought under the 1976 Race Relations Act to establish their right to recognition. The report of the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) also found evidence of "institutional discrimination" against Travellers, according to The Herald. It details discrimination within the National Health Service, noting that, "[t]here are cases of GP [general practioners] practices refusing to register or treat any, indeed all, gypsy travellers. There are children excluded from immunisation programmes and women denied access to health screening facilities ... Delays in access to personal social services and community care are also seen as being the norm." The Committee made thirty recommendations to end the rights abuse of Travellers in Scotland. Their findings are due to be considered by the Scottish Executive and will come up for debate before the Parliament in the autumn. Mr Mark Kennedy, the Vice-Chairman of the Scottish Gypsy Traveller Association, welcomed the committee's approach and findings but said that an opportunity had been missed with the recent 2001 census to gain an accurate indication of the true number of Travellers in Scotland, because of the lack of an appropriate ethnicity box.

(ERRC, The Herald)