Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of anti-Muslim hate crime near schools have been reported to police in Lancashire and Preston since 7 January 2015.

All forms of hate crime are deplorable and it’s important that victims are
protected and have the confidence to come forward. The Government is driving
forward work to tackle hostility and hate crime. We have toughened up
sentencing and are working closely with the police and other agencies to
increase reporting, improve support and prevent these terrible crimes happening
in the first place.

We continue to work with our voluntary sector partners to raise awareness of
hate crime at local and national events, and explore opportunities to promote
the use of the True Vision web tool further, including through targeted social
media advertising with direct messages to specific groups.

The Government’s action plan on hate crime, published in 2012, and progress
report, published in May 2014, outline actions currently being taken by the
government to tackle hate crime, as well as the many actions which have already
been completed.

The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office
receives data on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for
the five centrally monitored strands (race, religion, sexual orientation,
disability and gender identity) but these data cannot be broken down by
religion of the victim. Furthermore, it is not possible to identify whether a
hate crime took place near a school from the information the Home Office
receives from the police.