Dear Rt. Hon. Lucy Powell MP,

We are writing to you as a group of homelessness, housing and human rights organisations to congratulate you on your appointment as Leader of the House of Commons. We look forward to working with you and the new UK Government to tackle the housing and homelessness crises.

As an immediate priority we are urging you to end the criminalisation of homelessness by immediately scrapping the Vagrancy Act in the King’s Speech. After 200 years on the statute books, it’s time for change.

We warmly welcome Labour’s manifesto commitment to develop a new cross-government strategy to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness. Tackling homelessness is an integral step towards getting Britain’s future back, and key to kick-starting economic growth and to break down barriers to opportunity.

The strategy must sit at the heart of the mission-led Government and seek to end all forms of homelessness including rough sleeping, and tackle the wider systemic drivers. This includes the chronic lack of social homes.

But the Vagrancy Act continuing to be in law in England and Wales will undermine efforts towards getting back on track to ending homelessness. The Vagrancy Act makes it a crime to sleep rough. Punishing people who are forced to sleep rough with fines or prison sentences does nothing to resolve the root causes of homelessness. It is more likely to push someone further away from safety and the vital services that help them to move away from the streets.

In February 2022, both Houses of Parliament supported the repeal of the Vagrancy Act in a landmark rejection of the outdated laws that criminalise sleeping rough. However, the previous Government did not commence the repeal and earlier this year sought to introduce more punitive laws via the Criminal Justice Bill.

Across Britain homelessness has reached record levels – with the number of households trapped in temporary accommodation in England having almost doubled in just ten years, topping 112,660. There are now enough children in temporary accommodation to fill over 5,000 classrooms. And more than 3,000 people sleeping rough on our streets. Across the border in Wales, more than 11,600 people are now trapped in temporary accommodation including over 3,100 children.

Collectively, over 40 organisations campaigned against the previous UK Government’s proposals with the support of cross-party MPs and the public. We are together calling for solutions that work to end homelessness, like increasing social housing and providing specialist support services for those of us who need them, instead of punitive legislation that doesn’t.

We know that an end to homelessness is achievable with decisive leadership and policy change. The new Government has a chance to do things differently and build a legacy as the government that ended homelessness.

Committing to repeal the Vagrancy Act in the King’s Speech would signal a clear change from an outdated approach to the treatment of people facing homelessness and show that Labour’s approach to ending homelessness is grounded in what works. We hope you will consider this proposal.

This letter has been copied to the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Kind Regards,

Matt Downie, Chief Executive, Crisis

Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive, Amnesty International UK

Akiko Hart, Director, Liberty

Gavin Smart, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Housing

Polly Neate, CEO, Shelter

Rick Henderson, Chief Executive, Homeless Link

Charlotte Talbott, Chief Executive, Emmaus UK

Jo Carter, CEO of Glass Door Homeless Charity

Michael Chandler, Chief Executive, Groundswell

Kerry Brighouse, UK Programme Director, Hope for Justice

Bridget Young, Director, Naccom

Mick Clarke, Chief Executive, The Passage

Niamh Edwards, Executive Director, Release

Lt Col Nick Coke, Secretary for Communications, The Salvation Army

Robin White, Head of Campaigns, Shelter Cymru

Liz Rutherfoord, CEO, Single Homeless Project

Jean Templeton, Chief Executive, St Basils

Sean Palmer, Executive Director of Strategy and Transformation, St Mungos

Sian Williams, Chief Executive, Switchback

Jayni Gudka, Chief Executive, Unseen Tours CIC

Sian Aldridge, Interim Chief Executive, The Wallich

Denise Hatton, Chief Executive YMCA England & Wales

Amanda Dubarry, Chief Executive, Your Place

Katie Dalton, Director, Cymorth Cymru

Simon Gale, CEO, Justlife Foundation

Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive, JUSTICE