Petition · past parliament

Stop confiscating the belongings of homeless people

Rejected 16 signatures

What the petition asks

Homeless people already have a rough life. Taking their belongings is theft whether you are a council official or a police officer. There have been too many homeless deaths this winter, people have simply frozen to death on our streets.
Stop the policy of confiscating homeless people’s belongings.
http://metro.co.uk/2018/05/16/police-have-started-removing-homeless-peoples-sleeping-bags-in-windsor-7549339/

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.

We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. The police have said that the arrangement for people sleeping rough to hand over their belongings was optional, and that belongings were not confiscated against people's will.

You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you would like the Government or Parliament to do. For example, you could ask for the police to be banned from taking belongings from people who are homeless, even on a voluntary basis.

Timeline

16 May 2018 Petition opened for signatures
22 May 2018 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 16
Status Rejected
Rejected 22 May 2018

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.