According to the UK Green Party website the Green Party will try to achieve the following if they gain power at the 2010 general election:

CJ366 The Green Party calls for the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 because it is open to abuse by police and government. It discriminates against homeless people and wrongly labels them as criminals when their plight is a social problem.

Restriction, Detention and other Punitive Measures

CJ370 In some cases it will be necessary to place restrictions upon offenders to prevent re-offending, and in some of these cases to hold them in detention.

CJ371 Courts will have power to impose restrictions, for example by requiring offenders to report at stated intervals, or disqualifying them from practising certain occupations.

CJ372 Only the Crown Court will have the power to order detention and only when it is satisfied that the public must be protected because there is a substantial risk of a further grave crime, or that the offences have caused such public alarm that the offenders presence in the community would constitute a threat to his/her own safety.

CJ373 The duration of detention will be subject to a maximum, determined by Statute, and within the statutory limits set by the Court. Parole or early release will be subject to Department of Justice executive review with a right of appeal to a judicial forum.

CJ374 When individuals fail to make reparation or to pay taxes, maintenance, or other moneys where the present penalty for non-payment is imprisonment, they will be required to make reparation for their default through service to the community if no other way of recovering the money is effective. In addition, in the case of those who have income in addition to the Basic Income which will be guaranteed under Green fiscal policy, repayments will be deducted from the Basic Income (EC750). A limit would be placed on the repayments to ensure that the individual was left with not less than the Basic Income.

CJ375 No person in contempt of court will be detained until an opportunity for non-custodial means of purging the contempt has been offered.

I would be interested to hear both positive and negative views on UK Green Party’s Homelessness policies in the comments below?