Concerns for homeless as Westminster moots restrictions

The council has just opened a four week consultation on a new byelaw that will fine people in the area around Victoria Station if they “lie down or sleep in any public place”, “deposit bedding” or distribute free food and drink.

The byelaw will affect many of the estimated 1,600 rough sleepers in the Victoria area and the work of numerous charities that support them.

This includes charity soup runs and food distribution schemes which have come up against strong opposition from Westminster Council.

The council has tried previously to ban soup runs in central London in 2007, on the grounds that they put local residents at risk by attracting large numbers of homeless people to the area. It was forced to back track on its plans, however, after they were met with public outcry.

Alison Gelder, director of Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice, believes the proposals are unnecessary.

“While we completely understand the problems experienced by residents in this area, this byelaw, which is an attack on civil and religious freedoms, is a completely over the top response,” she said.

“It also cuts across the successful work that Housing Justice and others are doing to reduce both rough sleeping and the need for food distribution on the streets.”

The Coombe Trust, which distributes sandwiches on the piazza in front of Westminster Cathedral twice a month, has vowed to defy the plans.

David Coombe, chief executive of the trust, was quoted by the BBC as saying: “The need is there. We are not seeing the same people all the time, which is a good sign, but there are a few.

“The plans are incredibly draconian measures they are trying to enforce here. There’s nothing on God’s earth that will stop me doing this.”