Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) steps his Department has taken and (b) representations his Department has made to (i) local authorities and (ii) the police to protect (A) Islamic and (B) Jewish cemeteries from incidents of targeted vandalism and desecration.

Vandalism and the desecration of cemeteries are unacceptable criminal offences and we expect police forces to take any reports seriously. In cases where these are aggravated by hostility towards particular religious communities they will be investigated as hate crimes and may attract a sentence uplift if prosecuted.

We work closely with stakeholders including the Community Security Trust and Tell MAMA who support religious communities to increase reporting and respond effectively to hate crime.