‘Throwback to old vagrancy laws’

Published: 11 June, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

A PLAN to banish rough- sleepers from Westminster’s streets ahead of the London Olympics has been heavily criticised by homeless campaigners.

This month the council unveiled an ambitious new strategy to bring down the number of homeless people sleeping rough to zero before the 2012 games.

Tough enforcement measures include using Asbos and placing further restrictions on soup runs an outreach service claimed to be a “magnet” for rough-sleepers.

It has been branded “draconian” by Richard Burdett, editor of the Pavement, the newspaper for homeless people, who warned that it was evidence of a return to vagrancy laws of the 19th century.

Westminster City Council has also come under fire for the muscular language of the report, which states its priority is to “secure a reduction in street activity and protect residents, visitors and the business community from unacceptable anti-social behaviour associated with rough-sleeping”.

Responsibility for the enforcement will fall to council officers and the police, backed up the UK Border Agency, who will be specifically concentrate on eastern European rough-sleepers in the West End and around Victoria. Under controversial EU regulations, migrants can face deportation if it can be proven they have no means of supporting themselves three months after having arrived in the UK. Mr Burdett said: “It’s ridiculous. This plan hasn’t got anything to do with care for the homeless, it’s about the cosmetics of Westminster. 

“Westminster council have made themselves the leading light of this sort of enforcement. What is amazing is that there is no research which supports this sort of get-tough approach as being helpful to anyone. 

“For me it doesn’t mark that much of a shift in policy, but what has changed is that they’re being more open about what they’re doing. They’ve always said that softly-softly approach doesn’t work. It is worrying to see what sounds like a return to vagrancy laws. I would go as far as to say this is a major misuse of a quite frankly ridiculous law.”

Guthrie McKie, Harrow Road ward Labour councillor, said: “This scheme will not achieve this zero figure. The idea of using Asbos is ridiculous, of course, and unworkable. Asbos have some meaning when used against people with a permanent address. I urge the council to rethink their strategy and deliver one that will see the rehabilitation of rough-sleepers into the mainstream of society and not one that measures success by getting them off the street.”

According to the council’s latest head count, there are 98 rough-sleepers in Westminster plus 49 EU nationals.

Daniel Astaire, Westminster’s cabinet member for society, families and adult services, said: “Ending rough-sleeping by 2012 is an ambitious commitment but one that we must work towards. By 2012 we aim to ensure that there will be nobody using the streets as a place to live for periods of months or years.

“Anyone who is on the streets is putting themselves at risk and along with our partners, we will continue to work very hard to prevent vulnerable people from becoming entrenched rough-sleepers in the first place. 

“We want to get people off the street as quickly as possible and into accommodation where they can start to rebuild their lives.”