Rise in the number of homeless arrested
HUNDREDS of homeless people in Wales have been arrested for sleeping rough or begging, new figures have revealed.
And there’s been an increase in arrests in the South Wales Police area.
Between 2014 and 2018, 375 arrests were made across Wales under the Vagrancy Act, which came into force almost 200 years ago in 1824.
While most of the UK saw the number of arrests falling, Wales bucked the trend with statistics rising from 78 in 2014 to 93 in 2018.
According to figures from a Freedom of Information request, most of these arrests took place in the South Wales Police area, where there were 75 arrests in 2018, up from 53 in 2017 and 49 in 2014. There were 17 arrests in North Wales in 2018, down from 28 in 2014, but a jump from seven in 2017.
Dyfed-Powys Police reported one arrest in 2018 and there were none in Gwent.
The UK Government is proposing a review of the Vagrancy Act – but many homeless charities say the Act should be scrapped due to its draconian nature.
A spokeswoman for Shelter Cymru said: “It’s a sad fact that people in Wales today are being criminalised for being homeless and that the figures for arrests in south Wales have significantly increased.
“Shelter Cymru can see through our casework that arresting people who are sleeping rough does nothing to end their homelessness situation. These people need support into accommodation and to be treated respectfully by the people in power and by the general public.
“The outdated Vagrancy Act needs to be abolished as all it does is criminalise people who need help.”
Amy Lee Pierce, head of communications and public affairs for homeless charity The Wallich, said: “Like the Welsh Government Future Generations pledge, we want to see a Wales with thriving communities, where people are not criminalised because of their housing situation – or lack thereof.
“The Wallich supported 2,871 people in Wales in 2018 and there’s been a 45% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in Wales. Criminalising the people we support is counter-productive. Being homeless is not a crime.”