Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an estimate of the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by police forces for each month since May 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office’s Non-Crime Hate Incidents Code of Practice on the Recording and Retention of Personal Data came into effect in June 2023 and applies to police forces across England and Wales. The code includes safeguards better to protect the fundamental right to freedom of expression and stipulates that police should only record NCHIs when it is necessary and proportionate to do so, and not simply because someone is offended. Incidents that are irrational, malicious, or trivial should not be recorded as NCHIs.
To address concerns about the recording of personal data, the code introduced an additional threshold to ensure that personal data may only be included in an NCHI record if the event is motivated by intentional hostility or prejudice and where the police judge that there is a real risk of escalation causing significant harm or a criminal offence.
The College of Policing publishes operational guidance for the police, known as ‘Authorised Professional Practice’ (APP), on how to deal with different types of crimes and incidents, including NCHIs. The College updated its APP so that it aligns with the Government’s code. The College is responsible for determining police training requirements, and has developed an e-briefing pack on NCHIs which is available to forces.
The code specifically covers characteristics that are protected under hate crime legislation in England and Wales – race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability. It defines transgender identity or perceived transgender identity by setting out that “references to being transgender include references to being transsexual, or undergoing, proposing to undergo or having undergone a process or part of a process of gender reassignment.” This aligns with the definition set out in section 66(6)(e) of the Sentencing Act 2020.
The Home Office does not collect data from forces on the number of NCHIs recorded by the police, nor do we collect data relating to the personal characteristics of those involved in incidents. We similarly do not collect information on police spending relating to the investigation of NCHIs. The data collected from the police balances policy needs and the burden on forces.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-crime hate incidents have been recorded by each police force in each year of this Parliament.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office’s Non-Crime Hate Incidents Code of Practice on the Recording and Retention of Personal Data came into effect in June 2023 and applies to police forces across England and Wales. The code includes safeguards better to protect the fundamental right to freedom of expression and stipulates that police should only record NCHIs when it is necessary and proportionate to do so, and not simply because someone is offended. Incidents that are irrational, malicious, or trivial should not be recorded as NCHIs.
To address concerns about the recording of personal data, the code introduced an additional threshold to ensure that personal data may only be included in an NCHI record if the event is motivated by intentional hostility or prejudice and where the police judge that there is a real risk of escalation causing significant harm or a criminal offence.
The College of Policing publishes operational guidance for the police, known as ‘Authorised Professional Practice’ (APP), on how to deal with different types of crimes and incidents, including NCHIs. The College updated its APP so that it aligns with the Government’s code. The College is responsible for determining police training requirements, and has developed an e-briefing pack on NCHIs which is available to forces.
The code specifically covers characteristics that are protected under hate crime legislation in England and Wales – race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability. It defines transgender identity or perceived transgender identity by setting out that “references to being transgender include references to being transsexual, or undergoing, proposing to undergo or having undergone a process or part of a process of gender reassignment.” This aligns with the definition set out in section 66(6)(e) of the Sentencing Act 2020.
The Home Office does not collect data from forces on the number of NCHIs recorded by the police, nor do we collect data relating to the personal characteristics of those involved in incidents. We similarly do not collect information on police spending relating to the investigation of NCHIs. The data collected from the police balances policy needs and the burden on forces.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 107146 on Domestic Abuse: Victim Support Schemes, what progress her Department has made on delivery of the flexible fund in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan .
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is committed to delivering the ‘flexible fund’ that was set out in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan published in March 2022. The Plan made several multi-year commitments covering the duration of this Parliament, including the flexible fund.
Since the Plan was published, detailed work has been underway on how such a fund could be operationalised. This includes considering the advantages and disadvantages of the fund making direct cash payments to victims and survivors, as opposed to domestic abuse charities purchasing goods and services on behalf of victims and survivors.
If the fund were to make cash payments, we have considered how to ensure they solely benefit victims and survivors. This is particularly important in cases of economic abuse, where perpetrators control the finances of those they abuse.
Further details on how the ‘flexible fund’ will be delivered should be made in the coming months.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will update the passport office application process to replace the word gender and the options male and female with the word sex and the options male and female.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
British passports are issued to include the person’s sex marker indicating whether they are male or female, in accordance with standards set by International Civil Aviation Organisation.
HM Passport Office currently has no plans to replace use of the word gender, or the male and female options, as part of the passport application process
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether applications for passports to the Passport Office require additional documentation along with self-declared gender to clarify whether a person is (a) male or female or (b) in possession of a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Passport applicants are required to submit evidence to enable HMPO to identify them and to issue a passport containing all necessary biographical information. This includes the person’s sex marker indicating whether they are male or female, in accordance with international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. This will often include production of the person’s birth certificate. Where a customer applies to change the sex marker in their passport or requests a sex marker which differs from their gender registered at birth, they are required to show they are using the new identity for all official purposes and will normally be required to submit a gender recognition certificate, a re-registered birth certificate or evidence from a medical practitioner that their gender change is likely to be permanent. HMPO guidance on handling gender recognition cases can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gender-recognition.
HM Passport Office currently has no plans to replace use of the word gender, or the male and female options, as part of the passport application process.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to improve equality, diversity and inclusion training in police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The College of Policing was set up in 2012 to set and improve standards for excellence in policing, including recruitment, leadership, professional development and assessment.
The College’s role is clear: setting high professional standards sharing what works best; acting as the national voice of policing; and ensuring professional development and police leadership are of the highest quality and that they uphold the highest ethics.
Training standards and the national policing curriculum are set by the College of Policing. The College regularly reviews the policing curriculum, including equality, diversity and inclusion training, to ensure that it is fit for purpose.
Forces provide local training and development at several different levels ranging from initial entry, leadership and ongoing development to reflect and reinforce organisational values, including diversity and equality.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent employees are employed in equality, diversity and inclusions roles by police forces in England.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office does not hold information centrally on how many police employees are in equality, diversity and inclusion roles in police forces in England.
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of full-time equivalent police officers and staff by function in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. These functions are based on the framework set out by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) as part of the Police Objective Analysis (POA) estimates. The POA framework does not include a specific function on diversity and inclusion roles.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent report entitled IICSA: report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published 14 December 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of Recommendation 15 on victims of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is truly grateful to victims and survivors for bravely sharing their perspectives and experiences with the Inquiry and supporting its work over the past seven years.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its final Report on Thursday 20 October 2022. This is an important milestone in cross-sector efforts to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse.
Insight from victims and survivors is invaluable in understanding how we can continue to tackle this horrific crime and make sure appropriate supports are in place to help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. We will keep working across government and with a wide range of partners such as children’s charities, frontline professionals, law enforcement, and local authorities to ensure that the voices of victims and survivors are kept at the heart of our work to keep children safe from child sexual exploitation and abuse.
We will also work across Government at every level to address the issues raised by the Inquiry, and the Home Secretary will convene ministers across Whitehall to drive forward progress. This is in addition to the existing cross-departmental Governance that is already in place to monitor the implementation of the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.
We owe it to the victims and survivors to give the Inquiry’s final recommendations proper time, consideration, and attention. That is why the Government will carefully consider all of the findings and each recommendation, including recommendation 15, before responding fully within the Inquiry’s six-month timeframe, by April 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent registered sex offenders changing their gender without the knowledge of the police.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Public protection is a priority for this Government. Qualifying offenders are required to notify certain personal details to the police in person annually or whenever the details change. This system is often referred to as the ‘sex offenders’ register’ and requires offenders to provide their local police station with a record of (amongst other things) their: name, address, date of birth, passport details and national insurance number. While there is no legal requirement to notify the police of change of sex or gender, registered sex offenders are required to notify any name changes or changes to passport details.
Failure to comply with the notification requirements is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.
We are committed to ensuring that the system and the monitoring that underpins the management of these offenders is as robust as it can be, and that the relevant safeguards are in place. In March 2022 former chief constable Mick Creedon was appointed to conduct an independent review into the police management of registered sex offenders. The findings have been delivered to the Government, and we are carefully considering them.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides report 2021-2022, published 25 August 2021, what methods her Department used to collect that report's data on gender reassignment; and whether the gender reassignment data (a) reflects self-declared gender and (b) requires an individual to have a Gender Recognition Certificate to be counted.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Domestic Homicide Project is led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme (VKPP) and funded by the Home Office. The data collection and methodology are managed by the project, not the Home Office. The project team have outlined their methodology below.
The options on the submission form for ‘gender reassignment’ are: ‘Yes, No, Not Known’. This information is collected from those officers who are submitting the form and is based on their records. The definition provided in the guidance reads, “please indicate if the individual has, or is going through, gender reassignment. This is defined as a person whose gender identity is different to the gender assigned at birth. This does not require specific treatment or surgery as it is a personal process rather than a medical one. If not known, please select Not Known.” This definition had been drafted in relation to the Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance (Gender reassignment discrimination | Equality and Human Rights Commission (equalityhumanrights.com)).
Therefore, any response of ‘yes’ to this question may or may not involve the victim or suspect having a Gender Recognition Certificate. However, we have not received a ‘yes’ to that question on any of the submissions within our database from Year 1 (the August 2021 report) up to the present date. It is possible that there may be some individuals who have undergone gender reassignment (in a personal and/or medical capacity) but this was not known / recorded by the police and available to the submitter, and we do not have any evidence to suggest this in what we have been provided.