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.<\/p>
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.<\/p>
We do not have a specific category of \u201cappearance-related abuse\u201d 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\u2019s actual or perceived disability, or where the offence was motivated by such hostility.<\/p>
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.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4888", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Sharpe of Epsom"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-03-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-03-20T12:35:42.967Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Hate Crime: Disability"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "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.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/347", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Merron"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Merron"} ], "uin" : "HL3074"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1167536", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1167536/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Hate Crime Action Plan 2016 included a number of commitments to<\/p>
address disability hate crime. These commitments were:<\/p>
In October 2018, the Government published a refresh of the Action Plan, which included the following further commitments on disability hate crime:<\/p>
The 2018 Hate Crime Action Plan refresh also includes a number of broader actions addressing all forms of hate crime, including disability hate crime. These include:<\/p>
Any form of hate crime is completely unacceptable, and this Government takes hate crime very seriously.That is why the Government published the Hate Crime Action Plan in 2016, and refreshed it in October 2018.<\/ins><\/p> The Action Plan includes a number of commitments that address all forms of hate crime. These include a review of hate crime legislation by the Law Commission which commenced earlier this year, a public awareness campaign that included specific examples of disability hate crime to make it clear that it is unacceptable. <\/ins><\/p> Additionally, the Action Plan includes specific plans to tackle disability hate crime, including increased engagement with disability stakeholders, hosting two ministerial roundtables with disability groups and social media companies to help tackle online abuse of disabled people, and providing funding for community projects that directly tackle disability hate crime.<\/ins><\/p> <\/p> <\/p>"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce violent hate crime towards disabled people.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1796", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/782049", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/782049/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Home Office does not currently mandate police forces to disaggregate disability hate crime.<\/p> However, forces are free to record this information locally. We are working closely with stakeholders to improve our understanding of this form of hate crime, and this work will continue to inform our policy on this matter.<\/p>"}
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, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-11-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2017-11-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Hate Crime: Disability"}
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, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 18 October (HL Deb, col 616), what steps they are taking to record hate crimes against people with learning difficulties and autism separately from crimes against people with other disabilities.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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We are taking determined action to tackle knife crime and other serious violence, including by preventing children and young people from gaining access to knives in the first place. It is already illegal to sell knives and certain articles with blade or point to anyone under 18 in England and Wales, whether face to face or online, and the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 will further strengthen the law by stopping knives being sent to residential addresses after being bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product will not be delivered to a person under 18. Through the Offensive Weapons Act, we will also introduce new Knife Crime Prevention Orders which will give the police an important new tool to help them to work with both young people and adults at risk of being drawn into knife crime to steer them away from serious violence.<\/del><\/p>It is vital that the police have the resources and tools they need to tackle knife crime, including possession of knives on our streets. This is why we have increased police funding by more than £1 billion this year, including council tax and the £100 million Serious Violence Fund. Through the Serious Violence Fund we have provided £63.4 million to the 18 police forces worst affected by serious violence to pay for surge operational activity, and £1.6 million to help improve the quality of data on serious violence, particularly knife crime, to support planning and operations. In addition, £35million of the Serious Violence Fund is being invested in Violence Reductions Units which will form a key component of our action to build capacity in local areas to tackle the root causes of serious violence.<\/del><\/p>We have also launched a national campaign to begin to recruit 20,000 new police officers over the next three years, and we are making it easier for the police to use their important stop and search powers which is a vital tool in tackling knife possession on our streets and in our local communities.In addition, we continue to encourage all police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. The latest phase of the operation took place from 17 to 22 September and included targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps, and surrender of knives, including through amnesty bins. The operation also includes test purchase operations to identify those retailers who flout the law and sell knives to under 18s. Through our dedicated Prosecution Fund we are supporting Trading Standards to prosecute rogue retailers who repeatedly fail test purchases.<\/del><\/p>We are also addressing the root causes of serious violence by investing over £220 million in early intervention projects, and as announced in the Queen\u2019s Speech, we are bringing forward a new Bill to introduce a new legal duty on public bodies to work together to prevent and tackle serious violence.<\/del><\/p>