Council to Abandon Soup Run Ban Plans

Westminster City Council will not go ahead with its proposal to ban rough sleeping in part of Victoria after listening to views put forward in a major consultation. The consultation, which received almost 450 responses, showed the rough sleeping part of the council’s proposed byelaw was not widely supported. These views, combined with the fact that those sleeping in the area are known to the outreach workers and are actively being helped off the streets, mean the council will no longer be progressing with the ban. On the second part of the proposed byelaw on whether to ban soup runs around the Westminster Cathedral Piazza, the council has pledged to seek a solution by trying to work with soup run providers. If no solution can be found, the council says it will look to progress the byelaw. Read more on 24dash.

Westminster Council Denies 'Pushing Ahead With Soup Run Ban'

Westminster City Council has denied allegations from a housing charity that it plans to push ahead with controversial plans to outlaw homelessness and free food handouts in the Victoria area, which includes the central piazza to Westminster Cathedral. The Council closed a month long consultation on the by-law on 25 March, after receiving more than 500 responses and petitions. It had been thought Westminster was prepared to do a u-turn on the plans following Sir George Young's comments in the House of Commons that the local authority was rethinking its approach and would be looking at a non-legislative approach. But homelessness charity Housing Justice claims the Council has decided to continue with the process of preparing a by-law to criminalise rough sleeping and the distribution of food to homeless people in the Victoria area, having been told "the council was pushing ahead with the by-law". Read more on the Ekklesia website.