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Ealing Learning Disability Partnership Board13 January 2010

Presentation on the Government’s Action Plan on Hate Crime

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The Government’s Action Plan on Hate Crime (September 2009)

• The Home Office has written the Cross-Government Action Plan on Hate Crime together with other departments, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service

• This Action Plan tells us what the Government is doing about stopping hate crime against people, including learning disabilities

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What is hate crime:

A hate crime is when people are victims of a crime because of who they are e.g race, religious belief, disability.

Some examples of hate crime are:- Having hurtful things said to you

day after day- Being hit, pushed or hurt- Threats to you or your family

This can start small and then get worse and worse

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Awareness & other work on hate crime in Ealing:

• There was a report to the partnership board in January last year .

• Ealing Partners Power Group started an awareness campaign on 26th January last year.

• Berge, Caireen and Cheryl are members of the Ealing Hate Crime Forum. Caireen will tell us more later about joint working.

• Stephen is a member of the Safer Ealing Partnership and the Crime & Disorder Partnership.

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Main Points…..

• Make sure everyone has good information about what hate crime is and how to report it

• Have better support for victims and give them easy to understand information and easy ways to report hate crimes.

• Have groups or people that you can report hate crimes to if you do not feel you can talk to the police.

• Help everyone understand that the criminal justice system will do its best to protect them.

(1) Help more people who are victims or who see hate crime to report it to the Police

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(2) Make sure people who cause hate crime are made to take responsibility for what they have done

• This can be community service, doing work with them to help them change the way they behave or sending them to prison.

• Help victims and witnesses give their best evidence in court by getting better at supporting people who may be vulnerable or frightened.

• Give groups and individuals who are part of the criminal justice system guidance about how to do things well and rules to work to.

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(3) Stop hate crimes from happening or getting more serious

• Have better information about all hate crime. This will help to understand what to do about it.

• Support local communities and the police to do something about hate crime in areas where hate crime happens a lot

• Make sure local councils and other groups can get information about hate crime in their area to help them do something about it

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(4) Get better at following up hate crimes that happen on the internet

• websites that try to get other people to commit hate crimes

• websites that try to get people to hate certain people or groups. For example, a website that tries to get people to hate Gypsies.

There is an Action Plan on dealing with Internet Hate Crime. The plan is about:

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In the Action Plan there are some things that are about hate crime

and people with a learning disability:• The True Vision Disability Hate Crime Pack will tell

people with a learning disability about hate crime and help them report it.

• A Crown Prosecution Service policy on what should happen before, during and after court about crimes against people with learning disabilities.

• Learning Disability Partnership Boards will be given guidance on hate crime and working with other groups that want to stop hate crime.

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The National Director of Learning Disabilities and the Home Office (part of the Government)

will find out :

• what works in helping victims with a learning disability.

• how to stop hate crime against people with a learning disability.