Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have been prosecuted under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and (c) York in each of the last 10 years; and what steps he is taking to reduce the number of prosecutions.

The Government is clear that no one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and the time has come to reconsider the Vagrancy Act.

Work is ongoing to look at this complex issue and it is important that we look carefully at all options. We know from our engagement with stakeholders that there are diverging views about the necessity and relevance of the Vagrancy Act, and it may not be a question of simply repealing the 1824 Act and putting nothing in its place.

We will update on our findings in due course.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not centrally hold data on prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act over the last 10 years. The Ministry of Justice outcome by offence tool, which is publicly available, holds some of this information:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987715/outcomes-by-offence-2020.xlsx