Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission report entitled Hate crime laws: Final report, HC 942, published in December 2021, through the Criminal Justice Bill.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We are grateful for the detailed consideration the Law Commission has given to its review of hate crime laws.
In April 2023, the Government published a response to Recommendation 8 on misogyny as a hate crime. We will respond to the remaining recommendations later this year.
Jan. 12 2024
Source Page: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 from faith based representation: FOI releaseFound: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 from faith based representation: FOI release
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what rehabilitative programmes are provided by the Probation Service to help tackle hate crime; and whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the impact of these programmes on levels of recidivism.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are no rehabilitative programmes or interventions designed specifically to address hate crime. Hate crime offences are typically driven by a range of underlying factors that are shared with other types of offending for which there are a range of programmes and interventions available that may be suitable. What programme(s) or intervention(s) may be most suitable for someone convicted of hate crime offences is determined based on the nature of the offence and an assessment to determine eligibility and the specific rehabilitative needs of the offender.
A number of studies and evaluations have been carried out in recent years on HMPPS rehabilitative programmes and interventions, and can be found by visiting https://www.gov.uk/crime-justice-and-law#research_and_statistics.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the prevalence of abuse of people of restricted growth.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We have a robust legislative framework to respond to all forms of hate crime, including those which target a person’s disability.
Whilst the police are operationally independent and work in line with the College of Policing’s operational guidance to respond to hate crime, we expect them to fully investigate these offences and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.
The Government is pleased to see the overall reduction in police-recorded hate crime in the year ending March 2023, including a 1% reduction in disability hate crime compared with the previous year. However, any instance is one too many and we remain absolutely committed to ensuring these offences are stamped out.
A person of restricted growth is not necessarily a disabled person. A disability hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability or perceived disability, or any disability including physical disability, learning disability and mental health or developmental disorders. This will be a question of fact in each case.
Our absolute priority is to get more police onto our streets, cut crime, protect the public and bring more criminals to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. We delivered our commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 officers by March 2023 and there are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak in March 2010 before the Police Uplift Programme.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the risk of the far right and racists targeting (a) Poplar and Limehouse constituency and (b) other diverse areas; and what steps he is taking to protect communities from hate (i) crimes and (ii) speech.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes which target race and religion and expect the police to fully investigate these appalling offences and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. Our priority is to get more police onto our streets, cut crime, protect the public and bring more criminals to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training - there are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak in March 2010 before the Police Uplift Programme. Funding for the Metropolitan Police Service will be up to £3.5bn in 2024/25, an increase of up to £125.8m when compared to 2023/24. As of 30 September 2023, the Metropolitan Police Service has over 35,000 officers (35,006).
We are committed to protecting all communities from hate crime. In 2023/24, the Home Office is providing up to £50.9 million to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the new Protective Security for Mosques scheme and a scheme for Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship of other (non-Muslim and non-Jewish) faiths.
The Government continues to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal designed so that victims of all forms of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We also fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to provide expert advice to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of hate crime targeted at LGBT+ people in (a) Wales and (b) Newport West constituency.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government is pleased to see the overall reduction in police-recorded hate crime across forces in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023, including a 6% reduction in sexual orientation hate crimes. Whilst an 11% increase in transgender hate crime was seen, and this may partly be due to a genuine rise, the biggest driver is likely to be general improvements in police recording along with increased victim willingness to come forward. We are clear that any instance is one too many and we remain committed to tackling these appalling offences. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need.
Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training – there are over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme, in March 2010. Wales as a whole now has 8,108 officers (headcount as at 30 September 2023). Funding for Wales will be up to £936.4m in 2024/25, an increase of up to £56m when compared to 2023/24.
Gwent specifically now has 1,527 officers (headcount as at 30 September 2023). Funding for Gwent will be £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £10.7 million when compared to 2023/24. The Government continues to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of all forms of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We also fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to provide expert advice to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime.
The Government is providing over £3m of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting hate-related bullying and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic based bullying.
Nov. 20 2023
Source Page: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021: information noteFound: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021: information note
Correspondence Mar. 22 2024
Committee: Criminal Justice CommitteeFound: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 - SPF Response Letter from the Scottish Police Federation
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle hate crime in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Whilst the Government is pleased to see the overall reduction in police-recorded hate crime across forces in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023, we are clear that any instance is one too many and we remain committed to tackling these appalling offences. We are also committed to tackling the abhorrent crimes linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Government continues to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of all forms of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We also fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to provide expert advice to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime.
We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training – there are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme, in March 2010. As of 30 September 2023, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has over 35,000 officers (35,006). This is higher than the pre-PUP peak in the MPS of 33,820 in March 2010. The MPS is working hard to attract and recruit new officers and replace officers that leave, for example through retirement or voluntary resignation. Ultimately, responsibility for recruiting and maintaining officers lies with the Mayor of London and the Commissioner who are accountable to the people of London. The MPS’s funding will be up to £3538.1million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £118.9million when compared to 2023/24.
Correspondence Mar. 20 2024
Committee: Criminal Justice CommitteeFound: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 - ASPS Response Letter from the Association of Scottish