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To: The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
SUPPORT OUR HOMELESS.
Homeless people to be fined up to £1,000 for sleeping rough
These individuals need additional support to leave homelessness behind, and any move to criminalise sleeping rough could simply create additional problems to be overcome.
I want to see these rulings to be revoked nationwide, and a concerted effort made to give help and find appropriate accommodation for these vulnerable people in our society. In this day and age in our rich country, homelessness should not exist.
Why is this important?
Homeless people could be fined up to £1,000 for sleeping in doorways near popular tourist spots, under new rules launched by a London council, and this is not the first or only council to invoke this ruling.
It’s not clear how destitute rough sleepers are expected to pay.
Hackney Council’s Public Space Protection Order bans sleeping in public places – offenders are handed a £100 fixed penalty, which can rise to £1,000 in court.
Homelessness charities have condemned the move, saying that it turns rough sleepers – who are often escaping lives of abuse – into criminals.
Rough sleepers deserve better than to be treated as a nuisance.
Those who sleep on the streets are extremely vulnerable and often do not know where to turn for help.
