No one sleeps rough for a free sandwich

Further to recent articles ( Conservative council looks to ban soup runs for homeless , 28 February) and letters such as Cllr Daniel Astaire's (7 March), we express our opposition to the proposed bylaws making rough sleeping and the distribution of free food to homeless people illegal. One need only look to similarly ill-judged powers, such as the power to arrest the homeless under the Vagrancy Act or dispersal powers under antisocial behaviour legislation, to see that this approach is flawed: it targets at-risk individuals with criminal sanctions which will only make their problems harder to overcome, it fails to address the root causes of homelessness, and will at best only displace homeless individuals elsewhere. To argue that someone sleeps in a shop doorway because there is a free sandwich on offer is plainly ridiculous. Most of those sleeping on the streets do not do so by choice; rather, they are simply not being offered the accommodation or other assistance they need. Instead of banning rough sleeping and the provision of free food, Westminster council should commit itself to supporting the efforts of voluntary and community groups providing services to homeless and vulnerable people. We urge Westminster council to drop these proposed bylaws, which are an offence against common decency and common sense. We also invite everyone to make their views known via the public consultation, on the Westminster Rough Sleeping webpage, open until 25 March. Alison Gelder Director, Housing Justice Shami Chakrabarti Director, Liberty Mark Thomas Tamsin Omond Andy Benson Bandi Mbubi Director, The Manna Society Bob Baker The Simon Community Christoph Warrack Churches Together in Westminster David Clover Director, Webber Street Day Centre David Coombe Chief executive, The Coombe Trust/Street Souls David Renton Garden Court Chambers Don Flynn Director of Migrants' Rights Network Geoff Duncan London Churches Refugee Network Jad Adams Croydon Nightwatch Laura Hassan Coordinator of The Sanctuary, Methodist Central Hall, Westminster Lisa Harrison Providence Row charity Liz Davies The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers Neil Biles The Church Army Niall Cooper National coordinator, Church Action on Poverty Paul Walsh Rector, Notre Dame de France Phil Shiner Public Interest Lawyers Rachel Lampard Public issues team leader, The Methodist Church in Britain Revd Annie Kirke Pioneer priest of Missional Communities. Diocese of London Revd Dr RF Leão Neto Hinde Street Methodist Church Revd John Valentine Rector, St George's, Holborn Revd Nicholas Holtam Vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields Revd Paul Reily Chair, Christian Homeless Forum Revd Richard Carter Priest at St Martin-in-the-Fields Richard Burdett Editor, The Pavement Rosie Bairwal National Coordinator, Catholic Association for Racial Justice Rudi Richardson Founder/chief executive, Streetlytes-UK Steve Tipping Christians Against Poverty Susie Gorgeous General manager, Streetwise Opera Tim Nicholls Clerk, Quaker Homeless Action The following organisations and volunteer groups also expressed their opposition: The 43 members of the Housing Justice London Soup Run Forum St Vincent de Paul Society Farm Street Church Mount Street Jesuit Centre London Jesuit Volunteers