Anger at call to clear rough sleepers before royal wedding
CHARITIES have hit out at the leader of Windsor Council after he called for the streets to be cleared of homeless people before the royal wedding.
Cllr Simon Dudley has issued an open letter to Thames Valley Police, raising ‘concerns’ about ‘aggressive begging’ and rough sleepers in the area.
He claimed the ‘bags and detritus’ they leave on pavements present a security risk – particularly ahead of Prince Harry’s wedding in May – and called on police to use vagrancy laws to tackle the problem.
However homelessness charities have criticised his remarks, describing them as ‘unhelpful’ and ‘stigmatising’. Greg Beales, from Shelter, said: ‘People sleeping on the street don’t do so through choice – they are often at their lowest point and are extremely vulnerable. They desperately need our help. Stigmatising or punishing them is totally counter-productive.’
In his letter to the local Police and Crime Commissioner, Mr Dudley highlighted tourists’ interest in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, saying the homelessness situation presented the area ‘in an unfavourable light’.
He added that previous efforts by the council to get people off the streets had been unsuccessful.
‘In the Royal Borough we believe homelessness is completely unacceptable in a caring, compassionate community,’ he wrote.
He claimed that council officers recently secured emergency accommodation for ‘every individual begging and rough sleeping in Windsor’ and that a ‘significant number of adults chose not to use the accommodation, instead choosing to remain on the street begging’.
He added that some ‘reject all support services to beg on the streets’, making homelessness ‘a voluntary choice’.
He said insistence by the police that the issue was a matter for the local authority to deal with would not give them time to sort the situation before Harry mar- ries Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle on May 19.
Mr Dudley called on Thames Valley Police to use powers including the Vagrancy Act 1824 – which criminalises rough sleeping and begging – and the AntiSocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to tackle the problem.
Paul Noblet from homelessness charity Centrepoint – of which Prince William is patron – said: ‘Begging and rough sleeping are two distinct issues, and it is not helpful to conflate the two.
‘ The best way to help rough sleepers is to get them into an environment where they can access long-term support.’ Wisdom Da Costa, an independent Windsor councillor, said he also disagreed with Mr Dudley’s approach. He told The Guardian: ‘I don’t believe banging them [homeless people] up is right.’
But Malcolm Beer, another independent councillor, said: ‘The number of people begging in Windsor has grown in the last year.
‘I do think that if a homeless person is offered accommodation which they turn down then the police should be within their rights to make them move on.’
Last night Anthony Stansfeld, Thames Valley PCC, said he was yet to receive a copy of the letter.
Kensington Palace declined to comment.
‘Reject all support’