Extract from Attorney
General Questions: Hate Crime Sentences
(West Bromwich East) (Con): What assessment she has
made of the effectiveness of the CPS in securing sentence uplifts
in hate crime cases.
The Solicitor General (): I recognise the devastating impact that hate crimes
have on victims and communities, and the CPS is committed to
bringing offenders to justice. Training for prosecutors draws on
input from key community groups, helping to improve the
prosecution response to hate crime. In the 12 months to the end
of June this year, the proportion of convictions for hate crime
with a recorded sentence uplift increased to 78.4%, which is the
highest rate yet.
: Having heard directly from victims of hate crime in
the west midlands, during a virtual session hosted by our
candidate for police and crime commissioner, Jay Singh-Sohal, it
is obvious that we need to do more to support victims of that
appalling type of crime, through all stages of the judicial
process. Will my right hon. and learned Friend commit to working
with the CPS, and police across the country, to ensure that hate
crime victims feel able to come forward and report incidents in
the first place?
The Solicitor General: I thank my hon. Friend for her work with
the Holocaust Educational Trust and on tackling antisemitism. I
visited the CPS East of England yesterday, and heard about its
great work on tackling hate crime. The CPS works closely around
the country with members of the community, to ensure that the
approach to hate crime prosecutions is sensitive and provides
sufficient support to victims. For example, the CPS recently met
key groups that represent the Jewish community, including the
Community Security Trust to discuss work on
antisemitism. It also recently delivered a webinar on its
approach to hate crime to an audience invited by the Chinese
Welfare Trust and the Covid-19 anti-racism group, both of which
support the Chinese and south-east Asian communities.
Extract from Commons
statement: UK Terrorism Threat Level
(Hendon) (Con) [V]: May I put on record my gratitude,
and the gratitude of my constituents and the Community
Security Trust for the decision by the Metropolitan
police to provide additional patrols in the Hendon constituency
following the Vienna attack? Is the Minister aware that some
parts of the media erroneously reported that the attack in Vienna
was at a synagogue, and that this produced an increase in the
amount of online incitement from jihadists and far-right
extremists? If the threat level has been changed as a result of a
heightened threat to the Jewish community, can the Minister
provide reassurances that sufficient police resources will be
provided to meet that threat?
The Minister for Security (): My hon. Friend is clearly aware of the
reassurance approach that counter-terrorism policing has taken.
That has led to increased patrols and discussion with the
counter-terrorism policing network and the Community
Security Trust to provide that reassurance, and ensure
that action is well co-ordinated. As my hon. Friend will know,
the Jewish community protective security grant has been provided
for protective security measures at community sites, including a
number of synagogues. We keep this issue under review,
recognising that important essence of support so that all
communities can practise their faith, and those are precisely
values that we as a country seek to uphold.
