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.

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.