Hate Crimes
Debate between Baroness Penn and Baroness Hussein-Ece(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Hussein-Ece
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any increase in the number incidents of race and faith-based hate crimes, and whether they intend to introduce a new hate crime action plan.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Baroness Penn) (Con)
My Lords, hate crimes recorded by the police decreased by 5% last year. This reflects the crime survey statistics, which show a decline in hate crime reported over the last 15 years. Since 7 October, British Jews and Muslims have reported incidents in increased numbers. This is unacceptable, and we continue to work closely with communities. We are not intending to publish a hate crime strategy. We remain committed to cutting crime and protecting all communities.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that response, but, as she said, hate crime has spiked very recently, and we know that hate crimes are chronically underreported in the UK and that many victims feel disempowered by existing reporting services. In the Government’s last hate crime action plan of 2016, they pledged to increase the reporting of hate crimes and encourage more people from under- reported groups to come forward. What is happening about that? Can the Minister tell the House whether this work has been reviewed in the last eight years and whether reporting and prosecutions have indeed improved? Will the Government introduce a comprehensive strategy to ensure vulnerable groups feel protected and supported in law?
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, we have seen an increase in reporting and recording of hate crime over the last decade or so. There has been a small decrease in the last year, but, overall, that is partly reflective of the fact that we have put additional efforts into encouraging people to come forward. That includes through supporting charities such as the Community Security Trust but also Tell MAMA, which we fund, which is an organisation that focuses on anti-Muslim hatred and provides a different route by which people can report crimes and incidents and then get the appropriate support.
School Governing Bodies: Diversity
Debate between Baroness Penn and Baroness Hussein-Ece
Baroness Penn (Con)
The noble Lord is correct that there is more work to do. In response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, we committed to continuing to encourage governing bodies to be more reflective of the school communities that they serve, and we recommended that they collect and publish board diversity data at a local level voluntarily. As far as the Government’s actions are concerned, we are investing in recruitment campaigns with specific diversity targets to help increase the pool of people who can serve on these boards and support local schools.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, many years ago when I was a school governor—I declare an interest—I was encouraged by a school in Hackney, a very diverse school in a very diverse borough, which created two extra co-opted places specifically to reflect the diversity of the school and to encourage parents from those communities to join the governing body. That was very effective and I benefited from it, and I would like to think that all the kids there who I was in touch with also had a point of contact. Why can this not be rolled out to those academies that are serving the community but probably do not hit any of the diversity targets, so that they can better represent their communities?
Baroness Penn (Con)
I think the Government would encourage local initiatives such as the one that the noble Baroness refers to in increasing the diversity on boards and trusts of local schools. The other issue that we need to bear in mind is that for different communities diversity looks different, and the solutions may be different in different areas. We need to get the best practice out there, learn from it and provide the tools and encouragement to local areas so that they can do better in this area, supported by the Government.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: BAME Communities
Debate between Baroness Penn and Baroness Hussein-Ece
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, the Government have taken a number of measures to support employment for people from minority-ethnic backgrounds, partly as a result of the race disparity audit and the work done by the noble Lord who asked the Private Notice Question. The Government are taking things further, with the Commission for Racial Equality. Employment is one of the aspects being looked at by the commission, and it is due to report by the end of this year.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD) [V]
My Lords, there is overwhelming evidence that black and minority-ethnic communities have borne the brunt of this pandemic, facing a disproportionate fatality rate and now being hit harder by job losses. Do not take my word for it; the analysis is confirmed in research published by the House of Commons Library, which found that in areas of the economy that had been shut down there were an above average number of BAME workers. I press the Minister on the Question put by my noble friend Lord Woolley. A petition signed by 140,000 people is calling for a proper Covid race equality strategy. On the new job support scheme which will replace the support currently in place at the end of October, has there been an impact assessment of whether it will be effective?
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, the Government take the issue extremely seriously. A number of different factors feed into this. On the vulnerability of people from black and minority-ethnic communities to the virus itself, work was done by Public Health England and there is follow-up work being undertaken, including asking every NHS trust to undertake risk assessments and then take action to mitigate those risks. On the equality impact assessment, an assessment was done under the Government’s public sector equality duty of both the CJRS and its successor schemes.