training, and educational provision is accessible to individuals with impaired literacy skills. These recommendations restate and reflect a number of proposals in the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain and other third sector research studies. We note however the review undertaken by the Ministry of Justice ( 2008) made similar commitments to addressing Gypsies’ and Travellers’ needs in prison, but implementation has to date remained problematic, reflecting a number of wider difficulties in promoting race equality within prisons (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2005) as despite the fact systems and procedures have improved differential outcomes for BME prisoners persist, largely because of problems in staff-prisoner interaction (Cooper, 2010). Accordingly, whilst acknowledging some very positive localised initiatives we assert that a robust national strategy for working with Gypsies and Travellers in prison needs to be accompanied by sustained work to change staffing attitudes and improve the prison services at local level, for example through involving Gypsies and Travellers in the provision of training, acting as role models and providing mutual support (Mac Gabhann, 2011) Financial and Economic Inclusion The inter-ministerial report provides anecdotal and qualitative evidence from recent research which indicates that Gypsies and Travellers have made little use of Jobcentre Plus work-related programmes and services. In part this is attributed to Gypsy and Traveller populations having a cultural bias against claiming out-of-work benefits (see further Ryder and Greenfields/ITMB, 2010), and the fact that some members of GRT communities may be leaving traditional work areas and moving into new spheres of economic activity (CLG, 2012a, 29, 7.2).The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) did not in the past routinely collect data on Gypsies and Travellers but following their inclusion as an ethnic category in the 2011 census the DWP will now (commendably) include them as a category in the Labour Force Survey as well as in general monitoring systems. The inter-ministerial report makes substantive reference to the research report ‘Roads to Success: Economic and Social Inclusion for Gypsies and Travellers’ (Ryder and
training, and educational provision is accessible to individuals with impaired literacy skills. These recommendations restate and reflect a number of proposals in the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain and other third sector research studies. We note however the review undertaken by the Ministry of Justice ( 2008) made similar commitments to addressing Gypsies’ and Travellers’ needs in prison, but implementation has to date remained problematic, reflecting a number of wider difficulties in promoting race equality within prisons (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2005) as despite the fact systems and procedures have improved differential outcomes for BME prisoners persist, largely because of problems in staff-prisoner interaction (Cooper, 2010). Accordingly, whilst acknowledging some very positive localised initiatives we assert that a robust national strategy for working with Gypsies and Travellers in prison needs to be accompanied by sustained work to change staffing attitudes and improve the prison services at local level, for example through involving Gypsies and Travellers in the provision of training, acting as role models and providing mutual support (Mac Gabhann, 2011) Financial and Economic Inclusion The inter-ministerial report provides anecdotal and qualitative evidence from recent research which indicates that Gypsies and Travellers have made little use of Jobcentre Plus work-related programmes and services. In part this is attributed to Gypsy and Traveller populations having a cultural bias against claiming out-of-work benefits (see further Ryder and Greenfields/ITMB, 2010), and the fact that some members of GRT communities may be leaving traditional work areas and moving into new spheres of economic activity (CLG, 2012a, 29, 7.2).The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) did not in the past routinely collect data on Gypsies and Travellers but following their inclusion as an ethnic category in the 2011 census the DWP will now (commendably) include them as a category in the Labour Force Survey as well as in general monitoring systems. The inter-ministerial report makes substantive reference to the research report ‘Roads to Success: Economic and Social Inclusion for Gypsies and Travellers’ (Ryder and