The Government has said that it will repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 by spring 2026.
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 No one should ever be criminalised simply for sleeping rough and by scrapping this cruel and outdated law, we are making sure that can never happen again.”
At the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), 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.”
Background
A repeal of the Vagrancy Act was first announced in 2022 during the Conservative Rishi Sunak government; its alternative – of ‘modern replacement powers’, nuisance begging and nuisance rough sleeping directions, prevention notices and orders, towards an offence of trespassing with intent to commit a criminal offence – was cut short by the July 2024 general election. In its election manifesto, Labour complained of rough sleepers as ‘an all too-common sight in our towns and cities, and a sharp
rise in hidden homelessness’. Labour said that it would ‘develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country, to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness’. Prosecutions, let alone convictions under the 1824 Act have dwindled. Charities in the field, such as Crisis, Centrepoint and St Mungo’s, campaigned for the act to be repealed, and welcomed the latest announcement.
PSPOs
While homelessness and begging are not the same thing, some councils such as Swansea have made Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) that prohibit ‘aggressive begging’ as a standard of behaviour in specific places, and give the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (of £100) for breaches; which has sparked some controversy, again for criminalising beggars. A difference between PSPOs and the 1824 Act is that while only police can enforce the Vagrancy Act, ‘designated persons’ such as council staff or hired uniformed wardens or the police can have the authority to enforce.
Photo: rough sleepers at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, 2021.
