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<p>In 2016/17 there were 80,393 police recorded hate crimes; a 29% increase on the
62,518 recorded in 2015/16. This increase in recorded hate crime is likely to reflect
a combination a factors including a genuine rise in hate crime around the time of
the EU Referendum and Westminster Bridge terrorist attack, improved identification
and recording of hate crimes by the police, and greater willingness of victims to
come forward.</p><p>The cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan was published in July
2016 and focuses on the following five key issues:</p><ul><li>preventing hate crime
by challenging beliefs and attitudes;</li><li>responding to hate crime within our
communities;</li><li>increasing the reporting of hate crime;</li><li>improving support
for victims of hate crime; and</li><li>building our understanding of hate crime.</li></ul><p>The
Government will continue to deliver against the commitments under the action plan,
including working alongside the police, Crown Prosecution Service and other stakeholders
to tackle hate crime and provide support to victims.</p><p>Measures include funding
to places of worship that have been targets for, or are vulnerable to hate crime,
for protective security measures such as CCTV or fencing.</p><p>The Home Office will
also be funding seven local community projects this year that will tackle hate crime.
They will work with actual and potential victims and perpetrators, to raise awareness,
increase reporting, and challenge perceptions, as well as helping front line staff
to provide support to victims of hate crime.</p><p>The Home Secretary announced on
the 8 October the creation of a new national online hate crime hub that will be run
by officers for the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC). The national hub’s main
aim is to improve the police response to hate crime online. The hub will streamline
and simplify current processes, avoid duplication and reduce the burden of online
hate crime investigation on local forces. The hub is expected to be operational before
the end of the year.</p><p>The hate crime action plan will be refreshed in 2018.</p>
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