Homeless charity campaigners have attacked a Government proposal to continue handing fines to beggars in a planned reform of 200-year-old vagrancy laws.
Earlier this year, the Government pledged to repeal the Vagrancy Act – in place since 1824 – which includes fines of up to £1,000 and a criminal record for rough sleeping or begging. The Department for Levelling-Up, Housing, and Communities this week launched a consultation to replace the act, branded “antiquated” by former secretary of state Robert Jenrick.
But the chief executive of homeless charity Crisis, Matt Downie, has said the Government's plans “doesn’t really take us forward”. The proposals include possible fines of £200 for beggars.
