Nuisance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to create an offence of (a) engaging in nuisance begging, (b) arranging or facilitating begging for gain and (c) trespassing with intent to commit a criminal offence.
Answered by Dame Diana Johnson
On 10th June, the Government announced its intention to repeal the outdated Vagrancy Act 1824. We have introduced targeted replacement measures in the Crime and Policing Bill to ensure police have the powers they need to keep communities safe, including a new criminal offence of facilitating begging for gain, and an offence of trespassing with the intention of committing a crime, both of which were previously provided for under the 1824 Act.
We know police forces make effective use of existing powers to tackle anti-social behaviour that occurs in this context, and we will update statutory guidance on the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to provide more certainty on how existing powers can be applied to anti-social behaviour where it occurs in these scenarios.
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