The government has confirmed it will formally scrap the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act by next spring, meaning that rough sleeping will no longer be a criminal offence in England and Wales.
Although use of the act, which was introduced in 1824 to deal with rising rates of homelessness after the Industrial Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, has ‘significantly declined’ in recent years it remains legally enforceable. The government is repealing the act to ‘ensure rough sleeping is no longer a criminal offence, as it concentrates its efforts on getting to the root causes of homelessness, backed by major funding’, it states.
While repeal of the act was approved by Parliament in 2022, no formal timetable had previously been set to remove it from law. New legislation will be introduced to target organised begging by gangs and trespassing with the intention of committing a crime, the government says, both of which were previously included in the 1824 act. A cross-government homelessness strategy will be published later this year.
The number of people estimated to be sleeping rough in England on a single night was 4,667 in autumn 2024, according to the most recent figures – 20 per cent up on the previous year and the third increase in a row. When the 2023 total was released Shelter pointed out that the numbers were likely to be an underestimate, as ‘people who sleep in less visible locations can be missed’, and Crisis called the figures ‘a source of national shame’. ONS figures from 2022 showed that almost two in five deaths of people either sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation were drug-related.
‘We are drawing a line under nearly two centuries of injustice towards some of the most vulnerable in society, who deserve dignity and support,’ said deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. ‘No one should ever be criminalised simply for sleeping rough and by scrapping this cruel and outdated law, we are making sure that can never happen again.’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 repeal of the Vagrancy Act, which criminalises rough sleeping, cannot come soon enough,’ added St Mungo’s chief executive Emma Haddad. ‘Right now, we are supporting thousands of people who are rough sleeping; everyone facing this issue has their own heartbreaking story to tell of how they ended up on the streets – from complex mental and physical health issues to an increasingly unaffordable housing market. 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.’
Support services frequently report that criminalisation discourages people sleeping rough from seeking help, said Homeless Link. ‘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,’ said its chief executive Rick Henderson. ‘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.’