Paula Barker

Congratulations on your re-election, Mr Speaker. I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House; I know she will do an amazing job. In February 2022, MPs and peers passed an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824. However, the last Government failed to set out a commencement date for repeal, while trying to criminalise rough sleepers through the Criminal Justice Bill, which did not pass. I am aware that many homelessness organisations have written to my right hon. Friend, so can she give the House clarity on when the Labour Government will commence the section to repeal that Act, since it is already law? Surely, 200 years on, it is time to consign the Vagrancy Act to the dustbin, where it belongs.