AM: Last weekend, I
spent the evening in Swansea with a group of volunteers who go out
every Sunday evening with food, toiletries, warm clothing et cetera
for homeless people. Some of the people I spoke to had absolutely
nothing, and they were very grateful for the food and the
provisions, and they shared with us some of their experiences. I
heard from a number of people how they or their friends had been
arrested under the Vagrancy Act 1824. Now, the Vagrancy Act was
brought in in 1824. It's antiquated. It was introduced to tackle
homelessness caused by veterans returning from the Napoleonic wars.
It specifically criminalises rough sleeping and begging—you can be
arrested for either. One young woman told me on Sunday night, 'It's
illegal to be homeless, yet it's not illegal to make someone
homeless,' and I thought that was quite a profound statement. She
told us how the police regularly clear out the streets, arresting
people and removing their belongings, despite the fact that the
First Minister told me last week that this was not Government
policy. Wales is largely powerless to do anything about the
Vagrancy Act, due to our lack of criminal justice powers. In
Scotland and in the north of Ireland, the Act has already been
repealed. For me, that provides yet another example as to why we
need to see the devolution of the criminal justice system. It's yet
another practical example of what those powers could do for us. We
should be offering assistance to people who are forced to live on
the streets. We should not be criminalising them. It's time you as
a Government said enough is enough, and I would be grateful if you
would be prepared to allow a debate, in Government time, favouring
the devolution of criminal justice powers with a view to repealing
the Vagrancy Act.
(Minister for Finance and
Trefnydd): Thank you for raising the issue
and for giving me the opportunity to also share your admiration
for the work that the volunteers do in Swansea, day in, day out,
to support people who are rough sleepers. The Minister for
Housing and Local Government has recently set up her new
taskforce to explore support for homeless people, but
particularly those on the very sharp end of homelessness, and it
of course is being led by the head of Crisis, which I'm sure you
would welcome, and she will ask the task group to look
specifically at this. But the Welsh Government have been very
clear in our opposition to the Vagrancy Act, which is completely
outdated. It's completely inappropriate to criminalise people for
what is often a case of finding themselves in situations that we
can't even imagine having to deal with ourselves. So, I know that
the Minister is also liaising very closely with the police and
crime commissioners to ensure that they deal appropriately and in
a trauma-informed way with people who find themselves in the
situation of rough sleeping.
