Written Question·Home Office·UIN 14019

Begging and Vagrancy

Tabled: 29 June 2026
Answered: 6 July 2026

Question

Mr Andrew Snowden

ConservativeFylde

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards have been put in place to distinguish organised begging from begging arising from homelessness or destitution.

Answer

Sarah Jones
The new offence of facilitating begging for gain in the Crime and Policing Act does not directly apply to individuals who are rough sleeping or begging. Instead, this new offence makes it unlawful for anyone to organise others to beg. The measure is inten...

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