Hate crime and hate speech – Government action

UK Government actions:

• In March 2022, the UK Government published the Online Safety Bill to establish a regulatory regime for certain online service providers. The Bill contains requirements for service providers to tackle illegal content, including existing UK hate crime offences. The Bill is likely to proceed, but with amendments, following changes in the UK Government.
• In March 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service updated its prosecution guidance on different types of hate crime in England and Wales: racist and religious hate crime; homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime; and disability hate crime.
• In December 2021, the Law Commission published its report on reforms to the legal framework on hate crime in England and Wales, following a review requested by the UK Government.
• In July 2021, the UK Government published its National Disability Strategy, which contained a number of commitments relevant to tackling hate crime. Some elements of the strategy are paused following a high court ruling that the UK Government failed to consult lawfully with disabled people.
• In November 2020, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government awarded £1.8 million through the Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grants scheme to support community groups and civil society organisations in England to run short projects to ‘champion social cohesion’ and tackle religiously and racially motivated hate crime.
• In October 2020, the Sentencing Act 2020 received Royal Assent. Section 66 of the Act introduces new sentencing rules related to religious and racial hostility.
• From March to June 2020, the UK Government ran a consultation on measures to protect places of worship from hate crimes in England and Wales.
• In February 2019, the UK Government published the Integrated Communities Action Plan, which includes steps to tackle hate crime in England, such as updating the membership of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group to ensure wide community and expert representation.
• In October 2018, the UK Government produced an update on its 2016–2020 Hate Crime Action Plan for England and Wales. In May 2022, the UK Government committed to publishing a new strategy for tackling hate crime.
• As outlined in an October 2018 report on implementing the 2016 action plan on hate crime, between 2016 and 2018 UK Government departments funded projects on the prevention of, response to and reporting of hate crime in England and Wales. For example, the Home Office committed £900,000 to ‘community demonstration projects’ to find new ways to respond to hate crime.
• In July 2018, the UK Government published an LGBT Action Plan to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people. It includes action to improve the reporting and recording of, and the response to, LGBT hate crime in England and Wales.