Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to give the proposed Police Performance Unit powers to sanction police forces incorrectly recording (1) hate crimes, and (2) non-crime hate incidents.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information on non-crime hate incidents is not centrally collated. The Home Secretary has been clear about the consistent and common-sense approach that needs to be adopted when dealing with these matters, and we are working with the College of Policing on how best that can be done.
To drive up performance and standards and ensure communities can have confidence in their local police force, a new Police Performance Unit will be established in the Home Office. The Unit will harness national data to monitor performance and direct improvements, underpinned by a performance framework developed with the College of Policing, policing inspectorate (HMICFRS), National Police Chiefs’ Council and PCCs.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there is any correlation between the incidence of non-crime hate incidents and hate crimes.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information on non-crime hate incidents is not centrally collated. The Home Secretary has been clear about the consistent and common-sense approach that needs to be adopted when dealing with these matters, and we are working with the College of Policing on how best that can be done.
To drive up performance and standards and ensure communities can have confidence in their local police force, a new Police Performance Unit will be established in the Home Office. The Unit will harness national data to monitor performance and direct improvements, underpinned by a performance framework developed with the College of Policing, policing inspectorate (HMICFRS), National Police Chiefs’ Council and PCCs.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which particular characteristics are covered by the Additional Threshold Test for recording non-crime hate incidents; what plans they have to expand that list; and on what evidence any such plans would be based.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The statutory Code of Practice on NCHIs, developed by the previous government, sets out that an NCHI involves hostility or prejudice towards persons with a particular characteristic. A particular characteristic is defined as meaning race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity – this aligns with the five protected characteristics covered in hate crime legislation in England and Wales. Further detail can be found in paragraph 16 of the Code.
This Government has made clear that we will work with policing to ensure there is a consistent and common-sense approach applied to non-crime hate incidents.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for their policies of the Court of Appeal judgment R (Miller) v College of Policing (2021).
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The statutory Code of Practice on NCHIs, developed by the previous government, sets out that an NCHI involves hostility or prejudice towards persons with a particular characteristic. A particular characteristic is defined as meaning race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity – this aligns with the five protected characteristics covered in hate crime legislation in England and Wales. Further detail can be found in paragraph 16 of the Code.
This Government has made clear that we will work with policing to ensure there is a consistent and common-sense approach applied to non-crime hate incidents.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 November (HL2462), what estimate they have made of the cost to individual police forces of collecting and collating data on non-crime hate incidents.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently hold data on the cost to individual police forces for collecting and collating data on non-crime hate incidents.
The data collected from the police balances policy needs and the burden on police forces.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they do not centrally collect or collate information on the number of children who have been investigated by police forces for non-crime hate incidents.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently hold data on the cost to individual police forces for collecting and collating data on non-crime hate incidents.
The data collected from the police balances policy needs and the burden on police forces.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 26 November (HL2463), why periodic data on individuals who have had UK visas revoked on the grounds of (1) national security, and (2) being non-conducive to the public good, are not currently held in a reliable and repeatable form.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is continually working to improve its systems and management information. A new IT system product which will provide more reliable data, in this area, is currently under development.
The relevant data is currently held manually on spreadsheets maintained at local team level. To collate and verify that data in the context of this question could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy inspection regime, to ensure that His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services include compliance with the provisions of the Codes of Practice into non-criminal hate incidents within their annual assessments.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering next steps relating to the recording of non-crime hate incidents.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) consults widely with the sector on its inspection programmes and frameworks. The Inspectorate’s consultation on its 2025-29 police inspection programme closed in October, and a final version will be laid in Parliament in the new year following the Home Secretary’s approval.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to collate and publish on an annual basis the number of non-criminal hate incidents (NCHIs) recorded per police force; including disaggregating the number of NCHIs recorded which do and do not contain personal data.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering next steps relating to the recording of non-crime hate incidents.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) consults widely with the sector on its inspection programmes and frameworks. The Inspectorate’s consultation on its 2025-29 police inspection programme closed in October, and a final version will be laid in Parliament in the new year following the Home Secretary’s approval.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require police forces to publish their full policies and procedures on the recording of non-criminal hate incidents (NCHIs), which would include making clear to the public the difference between hate crimes and NCHIs.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering next steps relating to the recording of non-crime hate incidents.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) consults widely with the sector on its inspection programmes and frameworks. The Inspectorate’s consultation on its 2025-29 police inspection programme closed in October, and a final version will be laid in Parliament in the new year following the Home Secretary’s approval.