Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the level of parity in sentencing guidelines between hate crime based on disabilities and hate crime based on race.

Sentencing guidelines are a matter for the independent Sentencing Council. However, the approach to the sentencing of hate crimes is primarily set out in legislation.

This Government recognises that hate crime legislation, having been developed and added to over time, has prompted concerns that it is not sufficiently coherent and is difficult for practitioners and criminal justice agencies to implement. These concerns include parity between disability and other hate crime strands.

Recognising these issues, we asked the Law Commission to conduct a review into the coverage and approach of hate crime legislation. This review examined the adequacy and parity of protection offered by the law relating to hate crime and the current range of offences and aggravating factors in sentencing. The Law Commission reported its recommendations in 2021.

The Government is considering its proposals carefully and will respond to the recommendations in due course.