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Begging
This page looks at the issue of begging. Begging can make people feel uneasy; it can be intimidating and can make people who beg angry that they have to do it to survive. What should be done about begging has become a contentious issue with many councils seeing it as a manifestation of anti-social behaviour and using ASBOs to stop people begging. Some providers and councils have responded with campaigns to promote more positive ways of giving with the money going to charities that will assist people who beg rather than to the beggars themselves. Others have criticised this approach and see it as oversimplifying the issue.
The Issues
Begging and Homelessness
Most people who beg are not street homeless; although some may be living in hostels, many people who beg are housed. Westminster Council found that less than 40% of people arrested for begging in 2005 were of no fixed abode. Most local authority funded street outreach teams have a wider brief than just working with rough sleepers but also work on issues of street activity including street drinking and begging.
Homeless Link stresses the need to ensure that suitable accommodation is readily available for rough sleepers and that means a range of accommodation appropriate for the (sometimes multiple) needs of the people concerned. This would ensure that street homeless people should not need to beg.
In most places in the UK there is not a wide enough range of accommodation and support on offer for people with multiple needs. In many areas the lack of move-on housing results in the silting up of hostels and thus limiting access from the street. See our Move On report.
Begging and drugs
Similarly, some but not all beggars use drugs and/or alcohol. In many parts of the UK there is too long a wait to access drug detox and treatment services. Also, when a person completes drug treatment it is often very difficult to find somewhere to live without going back to an environment where drug use is common, making it incredibly difficult for someone to stay clean.
A number of homelessness agencies and local authorities in London have joined together in a campaign called Killing with Kindness, to raise awareness of the begging issue. The aim is to raise £10,000 for charities and drug treatment programmes.
Co-ercive Approaches
As well as being the subject of ASBOs, people who beg are still prosecuted under the Vagrancy Act 1824. Homeless Link has called for the Act to be abolished. We believe the issues behind begging need to be resolved before there is any move towards more coercive approaches. Imprisoning homeless drug users or others who beg is no long-term solution to the problem and it should not be necessary to use the criminal justice system to provide access to services and support.
Crisis has criticised the move towards coercion and enforcement in its Compassion not Coercion briefing.
Resources
In 2004 the Home Office produced a good practice guide on Drugs Use and Begging, aimed at those who commission services for people with drug problems who beg and those working with them. Although specifically about drugs, the guidance may also be appropriate to the management of all substance misuse related to begging.
See our listing of pages on begging on the Homeless Link website
See also the pages on crime, violence and anti social behaviour on the Homeless Link website