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From: Denc 🗡
Expect a sea of tents across Hyde park… Angela Rayner to decriminalise rough sleeping Deputy Prime Minister to scrap 200-year-old law, with fears more people could camp on streets Rough sleeping is to be decriminalised as the Government abolishes a 200-year-old law that made it illegal. The Vagrancy Act, introduced in 1824 to tackle a homelessness crisis after the Industrial Revolution, is to be repealed by next spring, Angela Rayner has announced. The Deputy Prime Minister said the move would “draw a line under nearly two centuries of injustice towards some of the most vulnerable in society, who deserve dignity and support”. It means it will no longer be an offence to sleep on a pavement, despite rising levels of homelessness across England. It raises the prospect of homeless people being able to camp on city centre streets.

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