Decision details

The Committee was informed that Lancashire County Council had considered the following notice of motion at Full Council on 21 July 2016:

Lancashire County Council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes unequivocally. Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes of any description have no place in our country or our county.   

We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society and note that a lot of good work is taking place across Lancashire:

·  The Lancashire Strategic Hate Crime Group is devising the hate crime strategy and there is a dedicated hate crime unit within Lancashire Constabulary.

·  There are excellent examples of partnership working to tackle racism, xenophobia and hate crime between the County Council, Borough and District Councils, Lancashire Constabulary, the Office of the PCC and the voluntary, community and faith sectors across the County. 

This Council wants to assure all of the County's residents and visitors that they are valued members of our society and as elected representatives of the diverse communities across Lancashire, Full Council is asked to place on record that the County Council will not tolerate hate crime, racism or xenophobia in its communities.

This Council resolved to:

·  Display the opening paragraph in this motion prominently on the county council website and that a press release is issued to publicise the motion.

·  Ask the scrutiny committee to review the current measures taken to counter racism, xenophobia, and hate crime and report back to Full Council.

·  Support and work with people who are victims of hate crime, racism or xenophobia to feel confident in coming forward and reporting it.

The report provided the Scrutiny Committee with information relating to the current measures in place and support available.

Questions and comments by the Committee in relation to the report were as follows:

·  Members enquired how many crimes were reported around the night time economy and how many of these crimes were drink related. The Equalities and Cohesion Team along with Lancashire Constabulary were holding a conference in January 2017 for the taxi sector. It was vitally important to address the crimes affecting the night time economy.

It was commented that people with learning disabilities were one of the most vulnerable groups in the community and the Equalities and Cohesion Team was asked what it was doing to help people with learning disabilities as they were often the victims of low level abuse and more serious crimes.

·  It was felt that the LCC could promote to its residents the skills required to deal with abuse and hate crime when it started. There were guidelines available for people witnessing abuse which suggested diverting attention from the abuser and address the person who was being abused thus creating an environment of support.

·  It was important that people working in the night time economy had the necessary skills for de-escalating dangerous situations to offer support for victims.

·  Members commented that a lot of victims did not have the confidence to report their crimes to the police.

·  The Equality and Cohesion Team were liaising with schools and organisations to educate children and teachers on what was a hate crime and talk about confidence in reporting the crime.

·  Along with Lancashire Constabulary the Equality and Cohesion Team was looking to hold a Women's Conference to specifically address the issues around why women were often victims of hate crime.

·  There was a Strategic Hate Crime Group set up that, at the end of the year, was looking at if there had been an increase in reporting hate crime, had there been an increase in prosecution, and, had there been satisfaction with the outcome.

·  The Committee was informed that there would be a Bite Size Briefing on Hate Crime soon for Members which would provide more detail on the subject.

·  The Hate Crime Strategy would soon be ready and then would go to the Chief Executives Group on 11^th November 2016 to be presented and signed off.

·  The Committee requested the dates for the Taxi Sector Conference and the Women's Conference when they were available.

Resolved:

1.  The report be noted

2.  The developments as set out in the report be noted.