27090 Blue Arrow Social Impact Report FINAL - Flipbook - Page 46
Supporting the petition against
the Criminal Justice Bill 2024
As a new signatory to the
Crisis Homelessness Covenant,
we have demonstrated
our commitment to ending
homelessness. Our commitment
does not end there. We are actively
supporting Crisis’ campaign to stop
the criminalisation of homelessness.
The Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament,
contains new powers for police and local authorities
to enforce against so-called ‘nuisance rough sleeping’
in England and Wales. These powers include being
moved on, a 昀椀ne up to £2,500 and even imprisonment.
The Bill says someone could be considered
a ‘nuisance’ if they are sleeping in a doorway,
if they have ‘excessive smell’, or even if they simply
look like they are intending to sleep on the streets.
This leaves the door open for anyone sleeping rough,
or ‘appearing to’ sleep rough, to be criminalised based
on a judgement about how they look, act or even smell.
Fining or moving people on who have nowhere
to go does not solve homelessness. All it does
is risk physically displacing people to less-safe
areas and break down trust between people
forced to sleep rough and the organisations and
authorities that can provide them with support
to move away from the streets, entrenching the
issue in a way that makes it harder to solve.
Furthermore, police and local authorities already
have a range of powers available to them
under existing legislation to tackle anti-social
and criminal behaviour. Through the pledge we
are encouraging Government to better clarify
the use of these rather than subject vulnerable
people to layers of criminalisation.
As a business that has made pledges to help
end homelessness in our local communities,
we are encouraging the Government not to
criminalise people experiencing homelessness
and instead to promote person-centred and
trauma informed approaches to help people
leave rough sleeping and begging behind,
alongside focusing on delivering the social
homes needed to end homelessness.
We believe people experiencing homelessness should
be treated with dignity and humanity.
46
