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: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the terms and conditions of the next round of the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant will be announced; and if he will take steps to ensure that there is no gap in the provision of funding from that grant.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The safety and security of the Jewish community is of the utmost importance to the Government. In light of the Israel/Hamas conflict and its impact on domestic hate crime, the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement confirmed that protective security funding for the Jewish community will be maintained at £18 million in 2024/25. In February 2024, in response to reports of increased incidents of antisemitism in the UK, the Prime Minister announced that CST will receive the same level of funding each year to 2027/28 (totalling £54 million for 2025-2028).
The Community Security Trust will continue to manage the grant on behalf of the Home Office, providing protective security measures (such as guarding, CCTV and alarm systems) at Jewish schools, colleges, nurseries, and other Jewish community sites, as well as a number of synagogues.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to promoting awareness of the grounds for reporting appearance-related abuse or harassment as a disability-related hate crime, including on public transport.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have a robust legislative framework to respond to hate crimes which target disability. We expect the police to fully investigate these appalling 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 appalling offences are stamped out.
We do not have a specific category of “appearance-related abuse” in the current legal framework, however criminal offences can be prosecuted as hate crimes when immediately, before, during or after the offence was committed the offender demonstrated hostility towards the victim based upon the victim’s actual or perceived disability, or where the offence was motivated by such hostility.
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: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if his Department will publish the recent work of the CSSF Hate Speech and Disinformation Programme.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government will routinely publish the programme summaries and annual review summaries of Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) programmes on gov.uk. Since its launch in 2022, the 'Hate Speech and Disinformation Programme' in Pakistan has trained university students on digital literacy; trained government officers to identify and tackle hateful narratives; and supported efforts to counter disinformation in the electoral process. The programme summary is due to be published by Summer 2024.
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: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of mandating additional training for police officers on community tensions following the events since 7 October 2023 in Israel and Gaza.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are grateful to police forces across the country for the steps they have taken to manage protests and protect and reassure our communities.
The police are operationally independent. As part of the national policing curriculum set by the College of Policing, all officers receive training on topics including engaging with the community to maximise community cohesion, trust and confidence; protecting the community; and tackling hate crime. This is bolstered by refresher training to maintain and enhance knowledge. The College of Policing also publish operational guidance for the police, known as ‘Authorised Professional Practice’ (APP), on how to tackle different types of crime and incidents, including hate crime.
As a result of the conflict, all forces now have established tension monitoring processes, working in partnership with community safety and voluntary partners to enable action to be taken to diffuse community tensions at the earliest possible stage. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has also provided awareness briefings to forces relating to the conflict which have been developed following consultation with key community stakeholders including Community Security Trust and Tell MAMA.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has provided guidance to the Metropolitan Police on tackling anti-Semitic (a) chants and (b) slogans during protests.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is clear that antisemitism is completely unacceptable, and we have a robust legislative framework to respond to hate crimes which target race and religion. The Government expects police to enforce the law where appropriate to protect communities and maintain public order and public safety.
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 all hate crimes and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. Whether specific chants or slogans constitute an offence depends on the specific context surrounding the incident and decisions on arrests are a matter for the police.
The College of Policing is responsible for providing guidance to police and are operationally independent from Government. The College of Policing have provided guidance and communications with frontline officers to ensure all officers have the latest information, advice and support they should be providing to communities.
On 28 February 2024, the Government published the Defending Democracy Policing Protocol after consulting with senior policing leaders. The protocol includes seven commitments aimed at addressing the growing trend of intimidatory behaviour and attempts to manipulate the democratic process. The full protocol can be accessed here: Defending democracy policing protocol - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
I also recently made a statement to the House of Commons on antisemitism in the UK. A copy of this on Hansard is available here: Antisemitism in the UK - Hansard - UK Parliament
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of its Hate Speech and Disinformation programme in Pakistan in (a) tackling hate speech and (b) helping to hold perpetrators of hate speech to account in that country.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Online Hate Speech and Disinformation Programme (2022-25) works to provide training and spearhead policy discourse on the issue of hate speech and disinformation in Pakistan. For example, the programme trains government officers to identify false and hateful narratives, including those which affect women and religious minorities. The programme has trained over 1000 university students on digital literacy. The programme funded voter education videos and supported a news show on Pakistan Television, inviting experts to discuss disinformation ahead of the Pakistani elections. Holding perpetrators of hate speech to account is a matter for the Pakistani Authorities and Judiciary System.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of racism in football in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There is no place for discrimination in sport, or in wider society. I am committed to ensuring sport does all it can to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.
Fans can be charged with a Football Banning Order and fined if found to use racist slurs towards players at football games. Sentences can be more severe if it has been recorded as a hate crime.
The Government has also amended legislation to extend the use of Football Banning Orders, so that online abusers can be banned from stadiums for up to 10 years in the same way violent individuals are barred from grounds.
We welcome the recent changes to the Code for Sports Governance and the ongoing work of the FA, the leagues, and organisations such as Kick It Out and the Black Footballers Partnership in challenging discrimination.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of racism in (a) management, (b) coaching and (c) academy football roles in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There is no place for discrimination in sport, or in wider society. I am committed to ensuring sport does all it can to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.
Fans can be charged with a Football Banning Order and fined if found to use racist slurs towards players at football games. Sentences can be more severe if it has been recorded as a hate crime.
The Government has also amended legislation to extend the use of Football Banning Orders, so that online abusers can be banned from stadiums for up to 10 years in the same way violent individuals are barred from grounds.
We welcome the recent changes to the Code for Sports Governance and the ongoing work of the FA, the leagues, and organisations such as Kick It Out and the Black Footballers Partnership in challenging discrimination.