Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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October – November 2025 : Making a difference READ ONLINE

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Legal support

October 01 2025

Introducing SK Legal, part of the homeless taskforce, supporting people experiencing homelessness with legal representation. Words by a member of the homeless taskforce

The government has finally announced the planned repeal of the Vagrancy Act, an archaic law that for over 200 years has made it a crime to simply sleep on the streets. While this repeal may seem like progress, many working with the homeless taskforce fear it will only be replaced by something much worse. The new Crime and Policing Bill, already in preparation, is filled with more 'anti-social behaviour' definitions and sanctions that will severely and negatively impact people experiencing homelessness, giving authorities more opportunities to use the law unjustly.
Alongside colleagues from the homeless task force – including the Museum of Homelessness, the Simon Community and the Outside Project – Streets Kitchen provides support to people experiencing homelessness seven days a week. Members of the homeless task force have directly witnessed the cruel practices used by police, private security and local councils increase over the years, particularly against those forced to sleep on the streets.
Streets Kitchen has also now launched its legal wing, SK Legal, in response to the constant harassment and criminalisation it witnesses through its daily outreach work. SK Legal will provide support in collaboration with solicitors and other organisations to ensure that people can receive adequate legal representation. Training will also be offered to ensure everyone knows their rights, empowering communities to challenge unlawful actions.
SK Legal now needs your help to highlight these unjust practices with its colleagues at Liberty. If you are given any paperwork by police, the council, or private security, it is vital that you hold on to it and contact SK Legal at Legalteam@streetskitchen.org as soon as possible so it can log and respond to these cases.
These may include Criminal Protection Notices (CPNs), Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) or some other made up ‘legal notice’. Whatever it is, the homeless task force needs to know about it, where it was given, how and why. 
SK Legal has been successful in every case it has taken so far because authorities often invent unlawful reasons to justify their actions. 
Homelessness is not a crime, the fact that it exists should be.

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October – November 2025 : Making a difference

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