Opinion Research Services (ORS) is a social research agency based in the UK.
Local councils ask ORS to carry out Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments every few years to help them understand how many pitches, plots and facilities are needed by families living on sites and yards in the local area, or living in bricks and mortar.
We need to speak to as many Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople that live in the local area as possible when completing these assessments.
Our fieldwork team will visit sites and yards to try to speak with people living there.
If you want to get in touch with the fieldwork team or if you would prefer to take part by phone, please call us on Freephone 0800 078 9786 or send an email to gtaa@ors.org.uk
We are Opinion Research Services Ltd, a limited company registered in England and Wales to undertake Market Research and Public Opinion Polling and our registered company number is 02904006.
We have a specialist team who work on Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments.
If we are trying to speak to you it is probably to gather some information about you and your family and your accommodation needs both now and over the next five to ten years
In order to assess the need for Gypsy and Traveller pitches and Travelling Showmen’s plots in each area, the local authority conducts what is normally referred to as a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA).
The assessments work out if there is a need for more Gypsy and Traveller pitches or Travelling Showmen’s plots in your area. It is really important that you take part in the process so that your Council identifies the true level of need for pitches and plots in your area.
Most councils employ consultants such as ORS to carry out the assessment and you will probably be asked to take part in a short interview or complete a questionnaire. How you answer the assessment questions is really important. It will affect the number of pitches and plots that may be required in your area.
We need to talk to as many Gypsies, Travellers, and Travelling Showmen within the areas as possible. The more people we speak to, the more accurate our information is and the more likely the right services will be planned for the future.
We have contacted you because we believe you live on a site or a yard in the area where we are conducting an assessment, or because you live in bricks and mortar in the local area but we believe you may wish to live on a site or yard in the future.
Giving everyone a chance to take part is important to us. We don’t have a complete list of names, addresses or phone numbers so we try to reach people in different ways – writing to you; visiting sites and yards and leaving calling cards; or calling you on the phone. This may mean you receive more than one type of contact.
You can usually answer our questions face-to-face on the day we visit, complete a survey over the telephone or complete a survey online.
If we have been given your contact details as someone living on a site or yard in the area, we will try to contact you at different times of the day and on different days of the week so we speak to as many people as possible. If you don’t want to take part, please tell us when we call and we will then take you off our list.
Taking part is voluntary. You may feel some of questions are sensitive and you don’t have to answer them if you prefer not to. Answering some questions is still very helpful for our study so even if you don’t answer all of them, we would still like you to take part.
The more complete the information we collect, the more useful it is when planning for the number of pitches and plots needed in your area.
If you want to withdraw from the survey after taking part, please email gtaa@ors.org.uk to ask for your answers to be removed. As long as we are still completing interviews for the assessment, we can normally remove your answers.
If you don’t want to take part, simply wait until we call you again. You can let the interviewer know that you don’t wish to participate in our survey.
ORS is accredited as a Market Research Society Company Partner and we fully comply with the MRS Code of Conduct. This validates that we operate to the highest professional standards.
ORS also complies with regulations and guidelines from all other relevant regulatory bodies including the Information Commissioner’s Office.
All of the data that we process is always safe and secure. You can read our Privacy Notice for further information about how we manage data.
We have an Information Security Management System which is accredited to ISO 27001. This covers the security of our IT systems, the physical security of our premises and the operational measures that are in place through policies, procedures and working practices. Any new systems or software that we develop are designed with privacy in mind.
Our IT systems are also accredited under the scheme Cyber Essentials that is overseen by the National Cyber Security Centre.
The information collected is used for research and statistical purposes. Your contact details are kept separate from your answers and will not be passed to anyone outside of ORS.
Your answers will be combined with others that take part in the survey. The overall results will be shared with the Council for the purpose of producing and publishing a GTAA. This won’t include your name or contact details, and no individual or household will be identifiable from our report.
The information will be used to help the local planning authority develop their Local Plan Policies. This includes assessing the number of pitches and plots needed in the area over the next 15-20 years.
Our fieldwork team typically visit each site or yard on two or three separate occasions during the study. We will often liaise with Site Managers and Traveller Liaison Officers about the best time to visit.
You can just wait until our fieldwork team visit your site or yard. You may have received a letter indicating when we they are likely to call.
If they miss you when they visit, they will leave a note to say they called and you will have a further chance to take part. This will usually include a telephone number so you can get in touch to arrange an appointment if you want to.
Our surveys can sometimes be completed online. If there is an online version of the survey in your area, we will have provided the links in our letter to the site.
To complete the survey online simply type the link that was provided in the letter into your browser. If you didn’t receive a letter but a neighbour did, you can use the same link – the survey will ask you to give your address.
Our letter may include a QR code which provides an easy way to reach the online survey from your phone.
The survey will then appear with clear instructions on how to answer each question.
If you would prefer to take part by phone you can call our team using the numbers provided in the letter and they will complete the survey with you by phone.
Our office is usually open 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday for incoming calls. If you call outside these hours you may need to leave a message and we will call you back as soon as possible.
If you have any further questions that haven’t been answered above, then please get in touch with us.
ORS provides clients with robust evidence and practical insights based on high quality, thoughtful and impartial social research
