Rough sleeping is set to be decriminalised next week as the government finally scraps a 200-year-old law that has long been criticised as outdated. The Vagrancy Act, originally introduced in 1824 for the punishment of "idle and disorderly persons, and rogues and vagabonds", will be formally repealed on Monday, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed.
Ministers had previously signalled their intention to repeal the legislation by spring this year. Its removal will now be facilitated by new powers contained within Labour’s Crime and Policing Act, passed in April. These new provisions, which include offences such as facilitating begging for gain and trespassing with the intention of committing a crime, are designed to fill any legal "gap" left by the old law's abolition, according to officials.
