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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824; and if not, why not.

This Government is clear that no-one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and sleeping rough. The cross-Government Rough Sleeping Strategy, which was published in August, committed to reviewing homelessness and rough sleeping legislation, including the Vagrancy Act 1824. The Government believes that review of the 1824 Act, rather than immediate wholesale repeal, is the right course of action to ensure the consequences of repeal are fully understood. My policy officials are currently developing the terms of reference for the review.