Political reporter
Rough sleeping will be decriminalised next year under government plans to scrap a 200-year-old law.
Ministers are planning to scrap the Vagrancy Act, which outlaws rough sleeping in England and Wales.
The law was introduced in 1824 to deal with rising homelessness, but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has called it “cruel and outdated”.
The government’s plan includes new legislation which will target crimes such as organised begging by gangs and trespassing, a statement said.
Rayner, who is also housing secretary, said Labour was “drawing a line under nearly two centuries of injustice towards some of the most vulnerable in society”.
“No one should ever be criminalised simply for sleeping rough and by scrapping this cruel and outdated law, we are making sure that can never happen again,” she said.
The number of prosecutions and convictions under the 1824 act has declined over the past decade.
According to government statistics, there were a total of 79 prosecutions and 59 convictions for offences related to rough sleeping in 2023 – down from a peak of 1,050 and 810 respectively in 2011.
Repealing the Vagrancy Act was first announced in 2022 by the previous Conservative government. It had wanted to pass alternative legislation first, but this did not happen before the general election was called last year.
The party’s Criminal Justice Bill would have allowed police to move on “nuisance” rough sleepers and fine them if they did not comply.
The Labour government said it plans to replace the Vagrancy Act with “targeted measures” that will “ensure police have the powers they need to keep communities safe”.
These measures, which will be introduced through amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, will include new offences of facilitating begging for gain and trespassing with the intention of committing a crime.
Homeless charities have long called for the Vagrancy Act to be scrapped.
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.”
He praised the government for having “shown such principled leadership in scrapping this pernicious Act”.
He said: “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.”
