“ These kinds of announcements generally involve nothing more than someone from the council putting up a few signs.
Due to savage cuts there are no police officers to enforce the rules and even if by some miracle one was available, they're dealing with homeless people who couldn't care less whether they're arrested / fined / moved on because they're at rock bottom already.
Just like when Boris Johnson announced a ban on drinking on public transport (for which there have been zero prosecutions), it's a very low-cost way of appearing to be 'tough on crime' when in actual fact it achieves nothing.
Never mind addressing the root causes of the huge increase in homelessness, let's just make a grand (empty) statement to attract a few more votes. ”