H&F Hate Crime Strategy 2024-2028 Our objectives

This strategy identifies our four main objectives, which are:

  1. Prevent hate crime and increase community cohesion
  2. Increase trust and confidence to encourage reporting of hate crimes and hate incidents
  3. Provide effective support to those affected by hate crime (including witnesses)
  4. Work with partners to take coordinated action against perpetrators

Objective 1: Prevent hate crime and increase community cohesion

Building on the success of our Equalities Plan, we want to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion alongside preventing hate crimes and hate incidents in our borough.

We will:

  • Raise awareness of hate crime and promote the value of diversity, cultural understanding and acceptance through training and engagement (including preventative educational programmes in schools).
  • Continue to challenge beliefs and attitudes that can underlie hate crime and promote an inclusive culture across the borough which respects equality, equity, and diversity.
  • Ensure hate crime remains a priority in key forums across H&F.
  • Continue to engage with experts and our communities to co-produce our approach.
  • Encourage and empower our communities to be positive bystanders if they witness hate crimes or hate incidents (this will be supported by the provision of bystander training by the council).
  • Ensure staff are trained to identify hate crime if they witness or it is reported to them and that they are confident in knowing what action should be taken. We will ensure that where data suggests there is an increase in a particular hate crime in the borough specialised training will be delivered. e.g. antisemitism.

Objective 2: Increase trust and confidence to encourage reporting hate crimes and hate incidents

Evidence suggests hate incidents and hate crimes are under reported to agencies such as the council and police. We recognise that this is partly due to the poor trust and confidence in statutory services amongst some communities.

To help rebuild trust and confidence, we will:

Work with our communities to improve our approach to tackling hate crime and supporting victims.

  • Listen to what victims tell us using their feedback to improve our response(s).
  • Create clear & accessible referral process so victims can access support quickly and easily and don't have to retell their story.
  • Promote other ways of reporting incidents and accessing support, such as via the Stop Hate UK helpline and Crimestoppers.
  • The Council's Law Enforcement Team will continue to build trust and confidence with communities so that residents feel confident in disclosing hate crimes and hate incidents to our officers.
  • We will work with residents and community groups to improve trust and confidence in all statutory services and will work with them to understand what support they want.
  • The Community Safety Partnership and the Policy and Accountability Committee will continue to hold partners to account in delivering on the action plan.

Objective 3: Provide effective support to those affected by hate crime (including witnesses)

Hate crime can have a devastating effect on victims and witnesses and can continue to impact victims long after the incident. We are committed to ensuring victims and witnesses can access meaningful and effective emotional and practical support which meets their needs.

To do this, we will:

  • Listen to what victims tell us and use their feedback to improve support available.
  • Train staff & frontline professionals on hate crime/hate incidents and how to respond appropriately.
  • Work with partners and communities to enhance our support offer and ensure support can be provided by a range of services which meet victim needs.

Objective 4: Work with partners to take coordinated action against perpetrators

We will work together to ensure robust action is taken by all partners against perpetrators of hate crime. We will support the Metropolitan Police to take action through the criminal justice system and consider other action that can be taken to prevent future incidents.

To do this, we will:

  • Build public confidence in reporting hate crimes.
  • Take robust tenancy action against perpetrators of hate crime and hate incidents in council properties and provide support to social and private landlords for other tenanted properties.
  • The council will use the tools and powers available to them within the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to take action against perpetrators. This includes introducing a street-based harassment public space protection order (PSPO). The PSPO will give authorised officers the ability to issue a fixed penalty notice, when they witness an individual directing unwanted verbal or physical attention towards a person or group of people where it is likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress in a public space. This would include sexist, homophobic or transphobic slurs.
  • Front line professionals will be encouraged to make referrals to the Community Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (CMARAC) in order to generate a robust action plan to protect victims and ensure action is taken against perpetrators of hate crime and hate incidents.
  • We will train professionals to identify factors which could indicate crime or anti-social behaviour is motivated by hatred and how to refer hate crimes to police on victims' behalf.
  • We will provide appropriate assistance for vulnerable perpetrators to tackle the root cause of ASB and hate crime by engaging and working with appropriate support services.
  • The Hate Crime Steering Group will hold all agencies to account to ensure, where possible, action is taken against perpetrators of hate crime providing annual updates to the Community Safety Partnership.

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