UK Government announces rough sleeping to be decriminalised after 200 years
After 200 years, rough sleeping will no longer be a crime as the Government confirms it will formally scrap the Vagrancy Act by Spring next year.
The Act was introduced in 1824 – towards the end of the Georgian era – to deal with rising homelessness which increased after the Napoleonic Wars and Industrial Revolution.
While use of the Act against rough sleeping has significantly declined over the years in line with modern attitudes and greater understanding around the causes of homelessness, it remains enforceable in law.
The Government say they will be repealing the Act to ensure rough sleeping is no longer a criminal offence, as it concentrates its efforts on getting to the root causes of homelessness, backed by major funding.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) says it has boosted funding for homelessness services by an extra £233 million this financial year, bringing total investment for 2025-26 to nearly £1 billion. This ambitious support will prevent more families from entering temporary accommodation and tackle rough sleeping head-on.
The Deputy Prime Minister is said to be also developing a new homelessness strategy with other government departments and mayors and councils who all play an important role in prevention and frontline support. This strategy will be published later this year.
The Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We are drawing a line under nearly two centuries of injustice towards some of the most vulnerable in society, who deserve dignity and support.
“No one should ever be criminalised simply for sleeping rough and by scrapping this cruel and outdated law, we are making sure that can never happen again.”
The Minister for Homelessness Rushanara Ali said: “Today marks a historic shift in how we’re responding to the rough sleeping crisis, by repealing an archaic Act that is neither just nor fit for purpose.
“Scrapping the Vagrancy Act for good is another step forward in our mission to tackle homelessness in all its forms, by focusing our efforts on its root causes.”
The Government says its amendments to the Home Office’s Crime and Policing Bill will focus on real crime and not rough sleeping, with no replacement of previous legislation that criminalised people for simply sleeping rough.
New targeted measures will ensure police have the powers they need to keep communities safe – filling the gap left over by removing previous powers.
This will include a new offence of facilitating begging for gain and an offence of trespassing with the intention of committing a crime, both of which were previously included under the 1824 Act.
Organised begging, which is often facilitated by criminal gangs, exploits vulnerable individuals, and can undermine the public’s sense of safety the Government has said. This offence makes it unlawful for anyone to organise others to beg, like driving people to places for them to beg. It will allow the police to crack down on the organised crime gangs that exploit vulnerable people to obtain cash for illicit activity.
Chief Executive of Crisis Matt Downie said: “This is a landmark moment that will change lives and prevent thousands of people from being pushed into the shadows, away from safety.
“For 200 years the Vagrancy Act has meant that people who are homeless are treated as criminals and second class citizens. It has punished people for trying to stay safe and done nothing to address why people become homeless in the first place.
“Ending the use of the Vagrancy Act recognises a shameful history of persecuting people for poverty and destitution, something that figures like William Wilberforce and Winston Churchill warned against in their opposition to the Act.
“It is of great credit to the UK Government that they have shown such principled leadership in scrapping this pernicious Act. We hope this signals a completely different approach to helping people forced onto the streets and clears the way for a positive agenda that is about supporting people who desperately want to move on in life and fulfil their potential. We look forward to assisting the UK Government with their forthcoming homelessness strategy to do exactly that.”
#homelessness #law #RoughSleeping #UKGovernment #VagrancyAct
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