The Big Issue first broke the news that the Conservative government intended to scrap the Vagrancy Act back in 2021.
Reacting to the news that it is finally being axed five years later, Big Issue founder Lord John Bird said: “Queen Victoria was five years old when this law was enacted. It has always been a scourge on our social society.
“Punishing people for their poverty has at last been rescinded by His Majesty’s Government.
“But we still have the problem of people who have been displaced and misplaced.
“This is not a sign that we are getting any nearer to the solution but it does show where the heart lies.”
The Vagrancy Act was eventually repealed as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 but the legislation remained in operation until replaced.
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The Tories’ proposed replacement, the Criminal Justice Bill, failed to pass into law and sparked controversy over police powers to take action over “excessive smells”.
Now, the Labour government will introduce amendments to the Home Office’s Crime and Policing Bill to finally consign the Vagrancy Act to the history books.
The government promised that there will be no replacement of previous legislation that criminalised people for sleeping rough in the new amendment.
Instead, they will introduce new targeted measures to “ensure police have the powers they need to keep communities safe”.
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.
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Balbir Kaur Chatrik, director of policy and prevention at youth homelessness charity Centrepoint, said: “Thousands of extremely vulnerable people – including children and young people – have been criminalised by this outdated act since we first started campaigning for it to be repealed, so the government should be congratulated for taking this decisive step.
“Seeing the act continue to be enforced as the numbers of people forced to sleep rough continue to break records has been particularly difficult and points to the real challenge ahead. One of these challenges will be ensuring that proposed amendments don’t have the unintended consequences of punishing people instead of supporting them.”
Homelessness charity Crisis called for increased and improved support and outreach services to help rough sleepers following news the act will be scrapped.
It also urged the implementation of more trauma-informed approaches from police and criminal justice services that consider why people are on the streets, arguing that it will curb anti-social behaviour.
Crisis chief executive 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.
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“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.”
St Mungo’s CEO Emma Haddad added: “The repeal of the Vagrancy Act, which criminalises rough sleeping, cannot come soon enough.
“The answer is not to criminalise people for living on the streets but instead to focus on tackling the health, housing and wider societal issues that are causing homelessness in the first place.”
The end of the Vagrancy Act comes as the Labour government has pledged an extra £233 million funding for homelessness services in 2025-26, taking spending on the issue to almost £1 billion.
Housing secretary Rayner is also leading the development of a long-term homelessness strategy that is set to be published later this year.
Promises are easy to break. Sign Big Issue’s petition for a Poverty Zero law and help us make tackling poverty a legal requirement, not just a policy priority.
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