Camden welcomes repeal of the Vagrancy Act ending criminalisation of rough sleeping

It’s great news that the Government has repealed the Vagrancy Act which means it is no longer a crime to sleep rough in England and Wales. This marks a defining moment in how society responds to homelessness – moving away from punishing people for sleeping rough towards a focus on prevention and providing the right support to help rebuild their lives away from the streets.

This aligns with our support led approach in Camden. At the heart of our Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-30 is to provide easy-to-access, person-centred, inclusive and responsive services for people experiencing homelessness. Alongside this, our new Outreach Service, which launched earlier this year with Single Homeless Project, will play a core role in delivering the changes we need to make a real difference for people sleeping rough by prioritising trauma-informed and personalised support. Crucially, we are expanding the opportunities for how people access support through piloting a No Wrong Door approach, aiming to ensure people can access the help they need sooner.

We are committed to ending street homelessness in Camden. The repeal of the Vagrancy Act will support our work to prioritise the needs of people sleeping rough and help find long term solutions that mean they can move away from the streets for good.