Key Facts

• Amendment 139 proposes an annual report requirement for nuisance begging directions.
• Amendment 140 addresses interference with attendance at substance abuse, mental or physical health support services and places of worship.
• The Vagrancy Act 1824 will be repealed by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
• Clause 38 introduces a move-on direction power for constables or local authorities to issue to persons engaging in nuisance begging.
• Amendment 140 seeks to protect support services such as substance abuse treatment, health care, and places of worship from being disrupted by the provisions.
• Clauses 38 to 64 will replace the Vagrancy Act 1824.
• Clause 38 allows authorized persons (police constables or relevant local authorities) to issue directions for nuisance begging.
• The penalty for non-compliance with a direction is up to one month's imprisonment or a fine of up to £2,500.
• Amendment 138 would require the local council to offer guidance on welfare rights for people given nuisance begging notices.
• Amendment 142 proposes changing the duration from 3 years to 1 year in clause 39.
• Clause 40 is amended to include interference with substance abuse, mental or physical health support services and places of worship.
• Clause 39 sets out new powers for authorised persons to issue nuisance begging prevention notices.
• The maximum duration of any requirement in a prevention notice is three years.
• Non-compliance with a prevention notice can result in up to one month imprisonment or a fine of £2,500.
• Amendment 138 seeks to ensure individuals are referred to local authority support services after receiving a nuisance begging notice.
• Amendment 142 would reduce the period that a prevention notice may be in place from three years to one year.
• Nuisance begging prevention notices follow the structure of existing community protection notices.
• A notice can prohibit relevant nuisance begging behaviors and direct individuals into support services like drug treatment centers.
• The maximum duration for a notice is three years, though shorter periods are often specified based on individual circumstances.
• Clause 42 allows for notices to be varied or discharged if circumstances change.
• First responders have an existing statutory obligation to make referrals into the national referral mechanism.
• The Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides protections for victims of trafficking.
• Referrals through the NRM take women an average of 1,000 days and men 500 days.
• Amendment 70 provides that applications for nuisance begging prevention orders will be made by complaint.
• Amendments 71 to 76 make various changes to the provisions relating to nuisance begging prevention orders, including setting conditions for when an order takes effect and specifying a fixed period for any orders made.
• Alex Norris's amendment 143 seeks to reduce the duration of nuisance begging prevention orders from five years to one year.
• Clause 49 defines the concept of nuisance begging.
• Nuisance begging includes specific locations such as bus, tram and train stations, taxi ranks, near ATMs, and entrances/exits of retail premises.
• It also covers actions causing harassment, alarm, or distress to another person.
• Clause 49(2)(e) references a carriageway, which includes roads as defined in the Highways Act 1980.
• Clause 49(3) provides protection if the begging causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
• The maximum penalty for offences under clause 48 is one month imprisonment and/or a fine up to level 4 (£2,500).
• The clause creates a new criminal offence for arranging or facilitating begging for gain.
• Organised begging is often run by criminal gangs linked to trafficking and other serious crimes.
• The maximum penalty upon summary conviction is six months in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.
• Clause 51 allows authorised persons (constables and local authorities) to direct individuals to move on to prevent nuisances.
• Move-on directions are limited to a maximum time period of 72 hours.
• The Government is providing over £500 million in funding for local areas to end rough sleeping over the next three years.
• The provisions give authorised persons (police constables or local council staff) power to move people on if they are engaged in rough sleeping.
• A person can be moved on and not allowed to return to the area for 72 hours, with a penalty of up to £2,500 fine or one month in prison for non-compliance.
• The repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 is mentioned as a landmark moment by campaigners but now faces opposition due to new proposed measures.
• £2 billion investment committed by the Government to end rough sleeping.
• The current Vagrancy Act is described as needing removal from statute books.
• The bill proposes a new clause (clause 51) which broadens the range of circumstances under which individuals could be criminalised for intending to sleep rough.
• The 1824 Act contains sanctions that enable officers to ask people to move on.
• San Francisco is cited as an example where rules similar to those under discussion have been either ceased or abolished, leading to negative consequences.
• Philp asserts there would be no ability to ensure compliance if the statute were totally excised.