Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure police forces receive (a) adequate training and (b) resources to (i) identify, (ii) prevent and (ii) prosecute antisemitic hate crimes.

Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, and the government is committed to tackling it in all its forms.

The government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards in police training and leadership to help maintain public trust and confidence. That is why the Home Office continues to fund the College of Policing to deliver support to forces and improvements to leadership and training standards through the National Police Leadership Centre.

The College of Policing sets national guidance and standards for policing in England and Wales, including publishing Authorised Professional Practice on hate crime. This Authorised Professional Practice provides guidance on how police should respond to hate crimes and promotes a proportionate and consistent approach that upholds the rights of victims and protects free speech. While the College sets the overall framework, individual police forces are responsible for determining their own local delivery of training.

Police forces are operationally independent, but we expect them to use these standards, tools and guidance, and to work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure robust charging decisions and prosecutions in cases of antisemitic hate crime.

The Home Secretary launched an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation on 5 October. This review will assess whether police powers remain fit for purpose, are used consistently, and strike the right balance between protecting the public and safeguarding the right to lawful protest.

It will address whether the existing legislation is effective and proportionate, whether it adequately protects communities from intimidation and hate and whether it strikes a fair and sustainable balance between the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and the need to prevent disorder and keep communities safe.