Mary Kelly Foy – 2023 Parliamentary Question on the Prosecution of Hate Crime

The parliamentary question asked by Mary Kelly Foy, the Labour MP for City of Durham, in the House of Commons on 1 February 2023.

Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)

What steps she is taking to ensure effective prosecution of hate crime.

The Solicitor General (Michael Tomlinson)

We are committed to delivering justice for victims of hate crime. All CPS prosecutors are trained about hate crime, and its specialist prosecutors help to lead that work. The latest figures show that the CPS has prosecuted nearly 13,000 hate crime offences, with a charge rate of 86% and, importantly, a conviction rate of 84%.

Mary Kelly Foy

As we mark the start of LGBTQ History Month, it was shocking to see in the year-end figures for hate crime a 41% increase in offences targeting people’s sexuality and a 56% increase in offences targeting people’s transgender identity. What are the Government doing to stop prejudice and fear, which led to that rise in crime, being stoked against the LGBTQ community?

The Solicitor General

In the hon. Lady’s area of the north-east, the CPS is particularly successful in getting uplifts to sentences in relation to hate crime. In the last rolling year to date, it has been successful in obtaining uplifts in 90% of cases. The question she raises is important and the CPS is working incredibly hard in that area.