Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to take steps to amend the statutory guidance entitled Non-crime hate incidents: code of practice, published on 3 June 2023, on only recording personal data relating to non-crime hate incidents if it is deemed proportionate and necessary to do so in order to mitigate a real risk of harm.

It is vital that the police can capture data relating to non-crime hate incidents when it is proportionate and necessary to help prevent serious crimes which may later occur.

We are carefully considering how best to protect individuals and communities from hate whilst balancing the need to protect the fundamental right to free speech, and ensuring the police can spend their time dealing with issues that matter most to communities.

We will set out next steps in due course.