Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle hate against disabled people.

We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes, including offences targeting disabled people. For example, under the Sentencing Act 2020, courts can impose a more severe sentence where an offence is motivated by hostility towards a victim's disability.

Through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, the Government has further strengthened hate crime legislation by extending the aggravated offences framework. Once commenced, offences motivated by hostility towards a person's disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity or sex will be treated on the same basis as offences involving race or religion. This will ensure that courts can recognise the additional harm caused when victims are targeted because of these protected characteristics and impose higher maximum sentences where appropriate.

We have also increased funding for the National Online Hate Crime Hub to £1.6 million per year for the next three years. The Hub provides specialist advice and support to police forces across England and Wales to help tackle online hate crime, including that targeting people with disabilities.