Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to avoid criminalising rough sleeping when tackling anti-social behaviour.

We are clear that the statutory powers to tackle anti-social behaviour provided by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 should not be used to target people based solely on the fact that they are homeless or rough sleeping. As set out in the statutory guidance that we have provided for frontline professionals on tackling anti-social behaviour, powers such as the Public Spaces Protection Order should only be used to address specific anti-social behaviour that is having a detrimental effect on the community’s quality of life and which is within the control of the person concerned.