Meeting of the Parliament 13 June 2017
I appreciate Mr Tomkins’s verbalisation of support for the action that we have taken in response to the range of recommendations that Duncan Morrow and his group have made.
I received a copy of the report that SCoJeC prepared in 2015 and I am very familiar with its content; indeed, I am very familiar with SCoJeC, which is an organisation that I have met on more than a few occasions across various portfolios. Charges for hate crime against Jews or Judaism are indeed up by 28 per cent. That is an increase from 18 to 23 charges. The figures remain very low; nonetheless, I accept that we must not be complacent and that there may well be underreporting. Underreporting is raised as an issue time and time again in relation to other hate crime, disability-related hate crime being another example. The interfaith work is particularly important in that regard, as is work done through our equality budget.
The multi-agency delivery group will have ministerial oversight. I will chair it, but that will not exclude the involvement of other ministers. Indeed, it has to be a cross-Government endeavour. Others who have been invited to participate include COSLA, the police and the Crown Office, which, although independent, has an important role to play, and there will be other groups and organisations that we will want to include.
I want the group to be up and running this year. The focus is on delivery, on practicalities and on how we can have an impact on the front line. My thinking has been informed by the way in which the equally safe joint strategic board operates with regard to delivery and the progress that we have managed to make on the ground with services for violence against women and girls.
Hate crime campaigns need to be evaluated. Along with Dr Morrow’s report, our previous experiences with the one Scotland campaign and the stand up to hate crime campaign in 2014 led us to the view that, as well as increasing awareness of hate crime, we need to increase awareness of its impact and that there is a role for increasing offenders’ insight into the impact of their behaviour. Even a low incidence of antisocial behaviour has a grinding impact on individuals day in, day out, and it increases social isolation and the risk of hatred.