Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Rejected
Government's failure to publish updated hate crime strategy is unsatisfactory amid rising incidents.
Conclusion
We are seriously concerned about the rise in the number of reported hate crimes since 7 October 2023, as well as the further significant resource needed for the police to respond to them. It is unsatisfactory that the Government has not published its new plan for tackling hate crime since the previous action plan lapsed in 2020, especially as the former Minister for Safeguarding, Rachel Maclean MP, confirmed in 2022 the Government was planning to do so. (Paragraph 111) 42 Policing of protests
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the seriousness of hate crime and details existing measures and resources for policing. However, it explicitly states it does not currently intend to publish a new Hate Crime Strategy, though it keeps its approach under constant review.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
This Government is clear that all forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable. 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 appalling offences and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. 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. Part of this necessitates police recruitment and training. We delivered our commitment to recruit 20,000 additional officers and there are over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak in March 2010 before the Police Uplift Programme. Whilst the Government does not currently intend to publish a Hate Crime Strategy, we keep our approach to tacking hate crime under constant review. We remain committed to continuing to protect all communities from crime and have a number of programmes in place to do so. For example, the government has worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of all types 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 support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime.