The Vagrancy Act is a piece of legislation that makes it an offence to sleep rough or beg in England and Wales. It was initially passed in Georgian England to combat increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
English / Cymraeg
Since 1824, the Vagrancy Act has made it a crime just to sleep rough or beg in England and Wales.
Criminalisation does nothing to resolve the root causes of homelessness. In fact, it's more likely to push someone further away from the vital services that help them to move away from the streets.
Thanks to our campaigning and your actions, the repeal of the Vagrancy Act is enshrined in law - a huge campaign win!
We are now pressing for the final repeal of the Act in England and Wales to happen without delay, and without additional legislation that could criminalise people who are homeless or destitute.
Until homelessness is no longer actively being criminalised, we will keep campaigning to #ScraptheAct.
The government wants to replace the Vagrancy Act with new laws that would give the police new powers to criminalise begging.
This approach risks criminalising homelessness by the back door and could push those on the streets further away from the help they need.
We must not replace one harmful piece of legislation with another that targets people experiencing homelessness and destitution.
Sign the petition to make sure that the government doesn't criminalise homelessness by the back door.
The repeal of the Vagrancy Act is now enshrined in law.
This means that, for the first time in nearly 200 years, sleeping rough will no longer be a crime in England and Wales.
Without your voice as part of this campaign, the government would not have acted to make this possible.
People who had been criminalised under the Act spoke out. Thousands of us signed petitions, emailed Government ministers, started conversations, contacted our MP, and shared the campaign online. Organisations and politicians came together.
This shows just how powerful we can be when we work together.
So, thank you to everyone who took action to make this happen.
"It's outrageous. Appalling." "A poor reflection on society."
Watch the reaction of Crisis at Christmas guests and volunteers to finding out about the Vagrancy Act - the centuries-old law that criminalised rough sleeping.
Despite the ‘repeal’ of the Vagrancy Act, the Act is still live on a technicality. Why is this, and what will it take to finally end it?
If the changes become law, it could force people who are homeless and destitute to risk police action if they ask for money for food or shelter.
Replacing the Vagrancy Act will not make our streets safer – it will only criminalise people experiencing the worst forms of homelessness
Lords back repeal of the Vagrancy Act in late-night vote. We set out what's next.
'I was first arrested for the Vagrancy Act in 2008. I just asked someone for 20p so I could use t...
"The Vagrancy Act didn’t help me at all. I was already on the streets, and then they fined me. Yo...
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