Rough sleeping to be decriminalised after 200 years

A massive change

Since 1824, the Vagrancy Act has meant that rough sleeping has been considered as a criminal office for over two centuries, dating back to the late Georgian period.

The act was introduced following the end of the Napoleonic wars which saw an increase of homelessness in England and Wales as many soldiers returned to unemployment.

The 1824 act was introduced to simplify current laws that would allow authorities to "deal with people considered idle or disorderly" and also outlawed begging.

Section 3 of the act, which addresses begging, states: "Every person wandering abroad, or placing himself or herself in any public place, street, highway, court, or passage, to beg or gather alms, or causing or procuring or encouraging any child or children so to do; shall be deemed an idle and disorderly person within the true intent and meaning of this act […]".

Section 4 outlawed the practice of sleeping rough.

The act has been used less in modern times to prosecute people due to increasing understanding and sympathy towards to rough sleepers, however, the government intend to repeal the act for good.

In a press release by the government the 1824 Vagrancy Act was described as "outdated".

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“No one should ever be criminalised simply for sleeping rough and by scrapping this cruel and outdated law, we are making sure that can never happen again.”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 said that it is repealing the act and deciding to "concentrate its efforts on getting to the root causes of homelessness, backed by major funding."

This action will be carried out through "amendments to the Home Office’s Crime and Policing Bill" which will "focus on real crime and not rough sleeping, with no replacement of previous legislation that criminalised people for simply sleeping rough."