Picture this. A man has been on the streets for 20 years. He’s tried hostels, but they didn’t work out for him. Like many other rough sleepers, he moves around from place to place in order to find safety and somewhere to sleep. Whilst many offer help, he often refuses and seemingly wants to stay on the streets. Unfortunately, despite the offers of help, he becomes abusive and eventually gets banned from multiple villages.
That’s a shortened version of an actual situation from the village where I live. It’s a sad story, but not the norm. Despite that, we see legislation and policy that seeks to criminalise and punish rough sleepers. A recent example of this includes a government campaign on nuisance/aggressive begging.
“The educated man pictures a horde of submen, wanting only a day’s liberty to loot his house, burn his books, and set him to work minding a machine or sweeping out a lavatory.”
George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London
An ancient law from 1824
Here’s a fun fact that you may not know – being a rough sleeper is against the law. As an example of how few people are aware of this, a serving police officer with six years’ experience told me “I didn’t even know rough sleeping was illegal till now.”
The 1824 Vagrancy Act is a very old piece of legislation. Many have called it archaic (e.g., the campaign group Crisis). It contains wording such as: “An Act for the Punishment of idle and disorderly Persons, and Rogues and Vagabonds, in England.”
Not exactly modern language for a modern world.
There is a clear assumption that all rough sleepers and beggars should be punished – with no regard for the reasons that led them to be in that situation.
In April, the Guardian reported that 1,173 people had been arrested under the Act since 2021. This was based on responses from 29 police forces. As there are 43 forces in England and Wales, it means the number is likely to be greater.
An amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act included a commitment to repeal the Vagrancy Act. Sadly, there was no commencement date set for when it will actually go. This has been the subject of parliamentary debate, with the most recent response being in May this year:
“As soon as suitable replacement legislation is ready – which we hope will be fairly soon – we will introduce it as soon as parliamentary time allows. At the same time, we will repeal the Vagrancy Act.”
It’s hard to believe there have been no opportunities to get replacement legislation approved in all this time. It feels like there is a distinct lack of motivation on the part of government to actually help rough sleepers – some of the most vulnerable people in society.
Orders to protect
The subject of the opening story was given a criminal behaviour order. It’s part of a range of measures, which include community protection notices and the highly controversial public space protection orders (PSPOs).
Liberty called PSPOs an effort to “airbrush the streets”. In the guidance to local authorities, the government says they shouldn’t be used to specifically target rough sleepers. However, many PSPOs get around this. There is research showing rough sleepers felt policed constantly in PSPO areas and were often forced to move on.
A PSPO from Dartford Council states, for example, that you should not act in a manner likely to cause distress, which is open to interpretation. Different people are distressed by different things. You could have someone walking past a beggar and becoming distressed by their mere existence. Another PSPO, this time in Redbridge, effectively outlaws all begging.
Some PSPOs mention littering. In my region, it’s possible to walk long distances without seeing a bin. If there are few places to dispose of rubbish, what can homeless people do?
Fines for breaching PSPOs range from £100 to £1,000. This will be unaffordable to many who have little access to money, with even their possessions being regularly stolen.
Anonymous perspectives
During the online research for this article, I was able to source anonymously posted views from several contributors to a subreddit hosting discussions related to policing. What they revealed was illuminating:
“I knew a guy (who has since left the job to run a BnB) who told me that he once arrested a guy for vagrancy just because it was a freezing cold night and he wanted him to have a warm cell and some food. My understanding is that the guy was released with no further action the following morning and went on his way.”
‘GrumpyPhilosopher7’
‘Woocheese’ said they’d never arrested anyone for “sleeping on the street” and that the law shouldn’t “punish the poor for being poor”. ‘Wilsons Chimichanga’ told me the Vagrancy Act could only be used as a tool for a rough sleeper to be “arrested, moved to a different location and dearrested” in the event of a serious issue.
The quoted example is an interesting one. It’s using the law to help and should be respected. However, the police wouldn’t have to do this if there were more investment in reforming social care and housing. What happens when the cells are full and an ‘actual’ criminal is arrested? That rough sleeper would probably be returned to the streets.
I wonder how many of the 1,173+ arrests are more social care than punishment. Unfortunately, stats aren’t available for that.
These anonymous accounts acknowledge that the policy is unsound, and provide potential evidence of law enforcement taking a softer approach than the policy makers. Combined with the many campaigns to scrap the Vagrancy Act, it’s clear that something needs to change. So why is it not yet a thing of the past?
Today in the House of Lords, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage will be asking a question about this exact issue, specifically looking at using the levelling up and regeneration bill to end the criminalisation of homelessness.
Stories from the streets
The following are messages sent from people who have slept rough on the streets. You may recognise ‘Derikoopa’ from my previous article, who had plenty of interesting things to say.
“The people I learned to fear the most were drunks. Regular people who had had too much to drink frequently would target the homeless for taunting or fighting. I stayed as far as I could from the city.”
‘Derikoopa’
“I was homeless on the street for five years and had a few things stolen from me here and there, mostly bikes. I did get a few of them back, which is somewhat uncommon.”
‘MrsDirtbag’
It seems as though the ones who require punishment are the people who threaten the rough sleepers, not the rough sleepers themselves.
Tackling homelessness requires a cultural shift
We live in a nation where, in this regard, we haven’t moved on since 1824. The laws of the land mean there’s still a chance of you being punished just because you’ve fallen on hard times.
A paper from the Journal for Youth Studies highlights the risks to mental and physical health, as well an increase in ‘preventable mortality’ posed by homelessness. There is a huge social care and health aspect that doesn’t see enough investment. It is time for a cultural shift and a new focus on more (and better) support.
In the next article, there will be an exploration of current temporary accommodation options, as well as the idea of putting housing first.
