Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crimes.

Hate crime of any kind is completely unacceptable. In October 2018 the Government refreshed the Action Against Hate to ensure that it is still fit for purpose to tackle hate crime including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic abuse.

The Action Plan includes a number of commitments that are addressing all forms of hate crime, including a review of hate crime legislation by the Law Commission which commenced earlier this year, a public awareness campaign which has run twice, and the Online Harms White Paper consultation.

There are also a number of specific commitments addressing homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime, which have been informed by the Government’s 2018 LGBT Action Plan. These include: the Crown Prosecution Service working with partners to improve the recording and monitoring of equalities data for LGBT victims of hate crime and reviewing and refreshing its LGBT Hate Crime Schools Pack; further Government Equalities Office funding for anti-bullying interventions in schools from March 2019 to March 2020; support from the Home Office to the police to improve training in responding to victims; multiple Home Office funded projects aimed at tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime; and continued engagement with LBGT stakeholders.