What just happened?
The already controversial Police and Crime Bill passed through the House of Commons this week and also poses a huge threat for people who are homeless or sleeping rough, criminalising any individual for sleeping rough or sleeping in their vehicle if on ‘private land.’
What does this mean?
Rob Cartridge, the head of communications and advocacy for Homeless Link, stated there are “up to 12,000 sleeping in cars, tents or on public transport according to Crisis analysis in 2018”.1
Under the new rules set out in the bill, individuals would first receive one warning from the police or landowner and if they did not or could not move on then they may have their vehicle confiscated and would be served a fine.
People who are already in a dire situation without access to improve them may be faced with “penalties they can’t pay, their only property and place to shelter seized, and a criminal record which would make it significantly more difficult to land a job and find a route out of homelessness.”2
It may appear unproblematic to some that there would be punishments for individuals trespassing on private land. However, individuals are required to “have the presence of mind to distinguish between public and private land while facing crisis and struggling to find somewhere safe to stay”3 and yet the distinction between public and private land is not nearly as clear as it initially appears, for example, doorways, drives, farmland, streets on an estate – are all areas where it is not immediately clear which areas of land are owned by government or members of the public.
Some of the leading homelessness charities in the UK have made an “unprecedented joint plea”4 to the government to reconsider the bill. In this, they stated “As currently drafted, the legislation risks putting any person who resorts to living in a car, van or other vehicle – or indeed has a vehicle parked near where they may be sleeping rough – at risk of arrest and imprisonment if they have been asked to leave by the landowner or police. We recognise that the government has said it does not intend for these people to be caught by the offence but ask for clarification to the bill to ensure this.”5
How does this impact the legal sector?
The Vagrancy Act of 1824 is the most recent legislation which criminalised homelessness, and the government have promised to repeal this on multiple occasions, as it is so outdated. Therefore, it is absurd to think that this new bill could result in further criminalisation of sleeping rough almost two centuries later.
There is limited explanation for this element of the bill, although Cartridge believes that “A Conservative Party manifesto commitment, to deal with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller encampments, is at the root of this part of the bill”.6 The issue here is not so much what impact this will have on the legal sector, but on every sector and community of our society. The homelessness epidemic is already disastrous, and this Bill presents the outdated and completely inappropriate view that it is acceptable to criminalise and further punish people who do not have the money or resources to afford a safe and secure place to reside.
It is worth noting that the current explanatory notes concerning the bill state that “it’s not designed to catch rough sleepers”7, but as aptly stated by Cartridge “once it is a bill, it can be used in any way the police want to in a few years’ time, which causes major concern”.8
The bill presents a multitude of issues for the British public, but on this issue, from a government who are promising £750 million over the next year to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, allowing this bill to be passed and enforced is intensely hypocritical.
By Lucy Stone
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References:
[1] Hannah Westwater, ‘Policing bill will force people deeper into homelessness, experts warn’ (The Big Issue, 5th July 2021) <www.bigissue.com/latest/policing-bill-will-force-people-deeper-into-homelessness-experts-warn/ > Accessed 8th July 2021
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid [n1]
[4] Peter Walker, ‘Police bill risks criminalising homeless people, warn UK charities’ (The Guardian, 8th July 2021) <www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/08/police-bill-risks-criminalising-homeless-people-warn-uk-charities> Accessed 8th July 2021
[5] Ibid
[6] Ibid [[n1]
[7] Ibid [[n1]
[8] Ibid [[n1]
Disclaimer: This article (and any information accessed through links in this article) is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.