Submitted on Tuesday 13th December 2016
Rejected on Tuesday 13th December 2016
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: duplicate (see below for details)
Abolish the Vagrancy Act 1824
The Vagrancy Act 1824 is a pre Victorian piece of legislation which allows for the arrest of rough sleepers and beggars. This criminalizes homeless people with complex needs who need access to proper support, not a criminal charge and a fine/prison term for non-payment of these fines.
The act is still in use by most police forces, with some such as Merseyside and West Midlands police forces arresting over one hundred people a year on vagrancy offenses. Many end up serving prison sentences for non-payment of fines. This means that as well as being cruel and inhumane the act is also a waste of money which could be redirected to support. (Court, police, prison costs and fines which will never be paid!)
http://www.thepavement.org.uk/stories.php?story=1028 (more info)
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The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
There's already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168967
18.219.130.41 Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:59:21 +0100
