{"id":231149,"date":"2024-05-15T10:41:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T10:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=231149"},"modified":"2024-05-15T10:41:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T10:41:29","slug":"braverman-plan-to-criminalise-rough-sleeping-dropped-after-tory-criticism-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/braverman-plan-to-criminalise-rough-sleeping-dropped-after-tory-criticism-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Braverman plan to criminalise rough sleeping dropped after Tory criticism | Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The government will drop plans to criminalise rough sleepers for being deemed a nuisance or having an excessive smell after Tory MPs threatened a revolt over the proposals.<\/p>\n

The plans, originally announced by the then home secretary, Suella Braverman<\/a>, had been condemned by homeless charities as dehumanising.<\/p>\n

The criminal justice bill, which returns to the Commons on Wednesday, would have given police powers to move on anyone who looked like they might be intending to sleep rough or even because of the way they smelled.<\/p>\n

Conservative MPs led by Bob Blackman and Nickie Aiken including former ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Tracey Crouch had submitted an amendment to the bill to remove the language.<\/p>\n

But on Monday, the home secretary, James Cleverly, said the government would amend the bill to compel police and local authorities to direct homeless people to support services before criminal sanctions could be used.<\/p>\n

Police can require rough sleepers to move on for antisocial behaviour, damage or harassment, if they decline support and ignore a formal warning.<\/p>\n

Announcing the change, Cleverly said the government acknowledged that the bill should also contain provisions for support. \u201cThis government is committed to ending rough sleeping,\u201d he said. \u201cTo achieve this, we must take a multifaceted approach that supports vulnerable people off the streets and ensures everyone can feel safe in our neighbourhoods and communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are scrapping the outdated Vagrancy Act and replacing it with new measures that focus on supporting people, while ensuring the police and local authorities are able to address behaviour that makes the public feel unsafe. This government listens, and we have worked hard to ensure these proposals prioritise helping vulnerable individuals, whilst ensuring communities are safer and better protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Home Office<\/a> said it would remove references to odours in the bill, saying the original intention had been to tackle dumped rubbish or human waste, rather than criminalising rough sleepers for being unable to wash.<\/p>\n

The government will also change a definition of nuisance rough sleeping from being \u201ccapable of causing distress\u201d to require it to be specifically about damage to property or disruption of a business.<\/p>\n

Braverman announced the provisions targeting rough sleepers in widely condemned comments to the effect that rough sleeping was a \u201clifestyle choice\u201d<\/a> and in which she said: \u201cWe cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

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