Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of scrapping non-crime hate incidents on (a) the public purse and (b) police time.

The current policy and code of practice on the recording of Non-Crime Hate Incidents (NCHIs) remains exactly the same as when it was laid before Parliament by the Rt Hon Member on 13 March 2023, during her second spell as Home Secretary.

However, the current Home Secretary is clear that a consistent and common-sense approach must be taken with NCHIs. She has also been clear that her top priority for policing is delivering on our Safer Streets Mission to rebuild neighbourhood policing, restore public confidence in the police and the criminal justice system, tackle antisocial behaviour and make progress on our unprecedented ambitions to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls.

The Home Secretary has agreed that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), supported by the College of Policing, will conduct a review on the use and effectiveness of NCHIs. The review will cover when the police should record information that has not yet reached the criminal threshold, but which is still deemed necessary to monitor community tensions and keep the public safe. It will also consider the fundamental right of freedom of expression and recent court rulings in this area. The Government welcomes this review and will work closely with the NPCC and the College as they develop their findings and any proposals. It would be premature to make any decisions about the future of this type of recording before the review concludes later this year.