Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many disability hate crimes were reported in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

All forms of hate crime are deplorable and it’s important that victims are protected and have the confidence to come forward. The Government is driving forward work to tackle hostility and hate crime. We have toughened up sentencing and are working closely with the police and other agencies to increase reporting, improve support and prevent these terrible crimes happening in the first place.

The Government’s Action Plan on hate crime, published in 2012, and progress report, published in May 2014, outline actions currently being taken by the Government to tackle hate crime, as well as the many actions which have already been completed.

We continue to work with our voluntary sector partners to raise awareness of hate crime at local and national events, and explore opportunities to promote the use of the True Vision web tool further, including through targeted social media advertising with direct messages to specific groups.

The Home Office receives information on the number of disability hate crimes recorded by the police at the force area level. Data are therefore available for Lancashire and for the aggregated forces in the North West and are on a financial year basis for the three years, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14. The available information, alongside totals for England and Wales, is given in the Table.

Further information on hate crimes, including force level figures, can be found at this link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crimes-england-and-wales-2013-to-2014