David Hanson
Main Page: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)Department Debates - View all David Hanson's debates with the Department for Transport
(12 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Maria Miller
As the hon. Lady will know, Cabinet Office guidance on parliamentary questions governs what questions are answered in this Question Time.
It is important for us to take account of individual areas in the country and the needs that may arise there. The position is different in each police authority area, and local police constables and chief police constables should be able to take account of that. However, the police alone do not provide the answer. Disabled people’s organisations have an important role to play in helping to ensure that disabled people feel that they have an opportunity to report crimes accurately, and I pay tribute to those organisations for the work that they are doing in that regard.
Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)
4. What recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of disability hate crimes.
Mr Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford South) (Lab)
5. What recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of disability hate crimes.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)
Until recently there has been no formal collection of data on disability hate crime. We are committed to promoting better recording of it, and from April this year forces started collecting the relevant data. When the statistics are published next summer we will have a clearer picture of local patterns and trends, which will help the police target their resources in the most effective way.
Mr Hanson
The Minister will know that following the publication of the Mencap report on Monday, there are some positive suggestions about how we can encourage further reporting of hate crime. Will she agree to have a discussion with the Association of Chief Police Officers to consider what I know from experience are very difficult issues?
Maria Miller
I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will be relieved to know that we are already having such conversations with ACPO. It is very important that those discussions include disabled people and the organisations that represent them, because they have an important role to play.