Homeless Link welcomes the Government’s confirmation that the archaic 1824 Vagrancy Act will be formally removed from law within the next year.
The Vagrancy Act currently makes it a crime to sleep rough in England and Wales. For over 200 years, it has continued to criminalise and penalise rough sleepers right up until the present day. Many support services have reported criminalisation discourages people sleeping rough from seeking help.
A Parliamentary vote in 2022 approved repeal of the Vagrancy Act, but since then no timetable had been set for the formal removal of the Act from law. Without action from government, rough sleepers have continued to be threatened with, and penalised under, the Vagrancy Act.
On 10 June, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner confirmed that the law would be fully repealed by Spring 2026. In an official statement, the government also confirmed that no equivalent provisions criminalising rough sleeping would be included in the new Crime and Policing Bill.
The Government has though pledged to introduce new amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill which would “ensure police have the powers they need to keep communities safe - filling the gap left over by removing previous powers.” These amendments have not yet been published, and Homeless Link will analyse and assess these when they are made available, including their potential impact on people sleeping rough and the services which support those people.
Homeless Link, alongside and on behalf of many of our members, has been an active member in the Scrap the Vagrancy Act Coalition. Led by Crisis, this broad coalition has campaigned across many years for the full repeal of the Vagrancy Act.
Commenting on the repeal of the Vagrancy Act, Homeless Link Chief Executive Rick Henderson said:
“This is an historic and long overdue reform, confirming at last that the Government will remove a counter-productive and highly outdated law from our statute books.
“The homelessness support services we represent, many of whom work every day with people who regularly sleep rough, know the focus needs to be on supporting people into a secure home while addressing their other needs, not sanction and prosecution.
“We welcome the government’s delivery on a long-standing promise to repeal the Vagrancy Act. We also salute campaigners, activists and politicians from all parties who have backed the Scrap the Vagrancy Act campaign over the years.
“Ministers’ explicit pledge that there will be no equivalent powers criminalising rough sleeping in the new Crime and Policing Bill is also welcome. However, we will carefully analyse the amendments announced that focus on rough sleeping, and assess how these may impact on those sleeping rough and the services who support them.”
