Asked by: David Mowat (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS is taking to improve the conviction rate for hate crimes involving disabled people.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The CPS treats all allegations of hate crime, including those involving disabled people, extremely seriously and continues to place priority on this work. Legal guidance on disability hate crime was refreshed in 2015 and a supporting training package was delivered to all CPS lawyers by January 2016. This equips prosecutors with up to date knowledge to inform their decision making and approach to building the strongest cases possible. In addition, a National Scrutiny Panel on disability is assisting with the development of further refinements to policy guidance on crimes against disabled people and the preparation of a joint CPS/Police/HMCTS statement concerning support to disabled victims of crime.