We need legislation that will protect the basic human rights and the possessions of the homeless; their tents, bedding, cardboard boxes and any food stuffs should be protected by UK law and all council officers and officials, PSCO's and the Police would be legally obliged to adhere to this new legislation. Officers and officials would also be obligated to provide referral pathways and discuss all available provisions, staying with these vulnerable people until provisions are met whenever authorities intervene in a civil dispute over pitching their tents or box beds in public spaces. Food, water and shelter are each of our basic human needs and as such our inalienable human rights. Police, the local authorities and our government have a responsibility to adhere to those human rights and ensure that they are protected while in the process of relocating the homeless. 

If a homeless person has pitched up outside a shop or a cafe, for example, causing disruption to the business and any earning potential, the owner of the cafe or business then has the right to ask the homeless person to move. This, however, is often not the case; business owners tend to contact the police or the local council, and officers of some description usually arrive and destroy the sole possessions of the person in question, leaving them with nothing. This occurs day in, day out throughout the UK and is the standard operating procedure for the Police force and local authorities. 

How does that process help to create the positive change we all want and need?

It doesn't. It creates a short term fix for the business owner, while our hypothetical homeless person now has to find somewhere else to sleep, but not only that, they also have to find something else to sleep in. 

Homeless people are people. They deserve respect, they deserve ownership of the little they have and they need our help, now more than ever. This is not about money or increasing public spending for more provisions. The provisions and pathways already exist and it is just about the perception of the homeless by the men and women on the street working for either the police, the local authorities or private interests that we need to dramatically change.