Liberal Democrats set out a bold plan to end rough sleeping
LIB Dems brighter future campaign - 14 days to polling day
Lib Dems plan to end rough sleeping within five years
Today the Liberal Democrats set out a bold plan to end rough sleeping within five years, spanning social housing, welfare, local authority funding and legal changes
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The Lib Dems today announced a package of measures to prevent rough sleeping, including:
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Scrapping the Vagrancy Act
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Introducing a "somewhere safe to stay" duty on local authorities to provide immediate emergency accommodation
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Abolishing Section 21 "no fault" evictions
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Increasing Local Housing Allowance payments
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Providing accommodation and support for survivors of domestic abuse
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Extending the "move on" period for refugees from 28 days to 56
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The latest government figures show that, under the Conservatives, the number of rough sleepers in England on a single night has risen by 31% since 2015, to 4,677. In 2018, 1,320 people were prosecuted under the Vagrancy Act, according to the homelessness charity Crisis.
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The Conservatives are sitting on their hands, failing to protect the most vulnerable people in society. They haven't built enough social housing, their benefit cuts have made poverty worse, and they blocked Liberal Democrat efforts to repeal the cruel, Dickensian law that criminalises people just for sleeping rough.
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