Team Blitz India
NEARLY 2,500 homeless people have been arrested by the police in England and Wales since 2019 under the Georgian-era Vagrancy Act, among them nearly 500 people since the government pledged to replace the act in 2022.
Exactly 2,412 were arrested since 2019 under the 1824 law, originally introduced to target homeless and wounded veterans of the Napoleonic wars.
The Merseyside Police made the most arrests under the law, detaining 866 people, followed by West Midlands, with 307 arrests, and Devon and Cornwall, with 135.
Since April 2022, when the Government said it would replace the Act, the Merseyside Police had detained 119 people for vagrancy, with West Midlands police making 66 arrests.
In February 2022, MPs and peers approved an amendment to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill that repealed the Vagrancy Act.
While the bill became law two months later, it did not include a commencement date, so the Vagrancy Act remains in place. The UK Government said the act will be repealed when appropriate replacement legislation is passed.
The criminal justice bill would allow the police to fine “nuisance” rough sleepers, a definition that includes “excessive noise” and “smells”. Under the provisions, rough sleepers could be moved on, fined up to £2,500 or imprisoned. The Liberal Democrats have campaigned over homelessness.
Experts across the sector have long advocated for a compassionate approach to homelessness. But the government is in no mood to give any relaxation.
The government is determined to end rough sleeping for good and it has a plan to tackle the root causes of why people end up on the streets, backed by an unprecedented £2.4bn.
It will repeal the outdated Vagrancy Act and replace it with new legislation focused on supporting people to get off the streets, while allowing local authorities and the police to address behaviour that can make the public feel unsafe, such as begging at cashpoints.
