Oct. 05 2023
Source Page: Hate crime, England and Wales, 2022 to 2023Found: Hate crime, England and Wales, 2022 to 2023
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle the causes of transphobic hate crimes.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is clear that all forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable, and we have a robust legislative framework to respond to hate crimes which target transgender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. We expect the police fully to investigate these abhorrent offences and make sure those who commit them feel the full force of the law.
Whilst part of the increase in transgender hate crime may be due to a genuine rise, the biggest driver is likely to be general improvements in police recording. The police are also better at identifying whether a crime is a hate crime, along with increased victim willingness to come forward. This is positive and reflects the hard work that has gone in to ensuring that police can target their resources, understand the scale of the challenge and ensure that victims get the support they need.
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. This has included the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023.
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 continue to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these despicable offences.
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 bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate-related bullying and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic based bullying. The providers are the Anti-Bullying Alliance, Diversity Role Models, EqualiTeach, Anne Frank Trust and the Diana Award.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the causes of changes in the level of transphobic hate crimes.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is clear that all forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable, and we have a robust legislative framework to respond to hate crimes which target transgender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. We expect the police fully to investigate these abhorrent offences and make sure those who commit them feel the full force of the law.
Whilst part of the increase in transgender hate crime may be due to a genuine rise, the biggest driver is likely to be general improvements in police recording. The police are also better at identifying whether a crime is a hate crime, along with increased victim willingness to come forward. This is positive and reflects the hard work that has gone in to ensuring that police can target their resources, understand the scale of the challenge and ensure that victims get the support they need.
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. This has included the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023.
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 continue to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these despicable offences.
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 bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate-related bullying and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic based bullying. The providers are the Anti-Bullying Alliance, Diversity Role Models, EqualiTeach, Anne Frank Trust and the Diana Award.
Oct. 05 2023
Source Page: Hate crime, England and Wales, 2022 to 2023Found: Hate crime, England and Wales, 2022 to 2023
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the polling by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, published on 27 November 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the finding that 16% of British Jews think that the police treat anti-Semitic hate crime like other forms of hate crime.
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 hate crimes which target race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity.
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 the police to fully investigate these abhorrent offences and work with the CPS to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need, including having recruited 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023.
The Government regularly engages with Jewish community stakeholders to ensure that we are doing everything we can to tackle antisemitism in the UK and protect the safety and security of the Jewish community. The Government’s Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant provides protective security measures at Jewish community sites including education facilities and many synagogues. In response to increased incidents of antisemitism in the UK as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the Prime Minister announced additional funding of £3 million to provide additional security at Jewish schools, synagogues and other Jewish community sites. This brings total protective security funding for the Jewish Community to £18 million in 2023/24. This level will be maintained at £18 million for 2024/25.
The Government is also providing £7 million over the next three years to ensure that more support is in place for schools and universities to understand, recognise and tackle antisemitism.
Since 7 October, forces across the country have increased neighbourhood patrols to provide reassurance to local communities. Police have also conducted thousands of visits to Jewish sites, including synagogues and faith schools. Forces have made a number of arrests linked to antisemitic and other forms of hate crime in the UK – including the Metropolitan Police Service which has made 134 arrests linked to hate crimes as of 1 December. The MPS also have a specific Hanukkah policing plan to provide assurance to the Jewish community.
Sep. 26 2023
Source Page: Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group minutes: November 2022Found: Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group minutes: November 2022
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Crown Prosecution Service’s assertion that there is a “Global narrative attacking the rights of all protected characteristics” as stated in its Pride Month Hate Crime Roundtable report of 23 June, published on the Crown Prosecution Service website.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The article in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) community newsletter published in June 2023 relates to a Pride month hate crime roundtable event. The roundtable was a local community engagement event held with members of the LGBT community affected by homophobic and transphobic hate crime. The quote represents reportage of discussion amongst external attendees at the event and was not intended to reflect organisational views of the CPS.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates were for people convicted of (a) racially-aggravated, (b) religiously-aggravated and (c) other hate crime offences who (i) received a (A) caution and (B) fine and (ii) were imprisoned in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We do not centrally hold data on other hate crime offences. This information may be recorded by individual police forces and in court records, however the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
There are 79,456 offenders in the latest reoffending cohort (October – December 2021) which can be found in the Proven Reoffending Statistics review, here:
Proven reoffending statistics: October to December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes were reported on the True Vision website in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The department does not hold data on the number of crimes reported on the True Vision website.
The reports made to True Vision are sent directly to relevant police forces, as identified by the complainant and reports deemed as hate crimes are included in the force specific hate crime data.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Law Commission report Hate crime laws: Final report, HC 942, published in December 2021, if he will implement the recommendations in that report that all (a) anti-LGBT+ (b) and disability hate crimes be treated as aggravated offences.
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 hate crimes which target transgender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. We expect the police fully to investigate these abhorrent offences and 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 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 supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training – that is why we have the highest number of police officers on record in England and Wales.
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.
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 and will respond to the remaining recommendations in due course.