§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of recorded homophobic crimes for each police force in each year since 1996. [84069]
§ Mr. BoatengThis information is not collected centrally, although Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary have encouraged police forces to implement locally, recording systems for homophobic incidents and crime.
In the Home Office, recorded crime statistics incidents of homophobic crime could appear in the categories of, for example, violence against the person and criminal damage, but there is no way of identifying those offences which have a homophobic element.
§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to reduce the number of homophobic attacks. [84068]
§ Mr. BoatengThe crime reduction partnerships established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 are required to carry out audits and publish strategies to deal with crime in their area. This includes strategies to deal with crimes against the gay and lesbian community.
The police service is also taking steps to improve communication between forces and gay and lesbian communities both to promote better understanding within the service of the impact of such incidents on the community and to provide a better service. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) published in 1996 a good practice guide for dealing with homophobic incidents. Recording and monitoring systems are being improved in order to enable forces to deal appropriately with such incidents.
Agreement has recently been reached by ACPO that the definition of a homophobic incident should be simplified 298W to bring it into line with the more simplified definition of a racist incident recommended by the Macpherson Inquiry. This will be promulgated throughout the service.