Hate crime policing to be reviewed after spike in reports

Police handling of hate crime is to be reviewed after a sharp rise in incidents following the EU referendum, the home secretary is to announce.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) will analyse how forces in England and Wales respond, Amber Rudd will say.

It comes after figures showed there have been more than 6,000 reports of hate crime to police since mid June.

The review will also look at how hate crime and abuse is handled in schools.

It is part of a package of measures to be outlined on Tuesday that ministers say will improve how hate crime is tackled.

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Ms Rudd is expected to commission HMIC to carry out a "scoping study" into forces' understanding of and response to hate crime of all types, including crimes against the disabled.

Hate-related bullying

The government will also work with schools on how to report incidents of hate crime, and help teachers and parents do more to challenge hate-related bullying in schools, the Home Office said.

Police figures indicate young people were the victims of 10% of faith hate crime and 8% of race hate crime in the period between 16 June and 7 July.On Monday, the government urged prosecutors to push for tougher sentencesfor people committing hate crimes, following a rise in incidents after the EU referendum.

A £2.4m fund will also be set up for security measures at places of worship.

Figures released last week showed more than 6,000 alleged hate crimes and incidents were reported to police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in four weeks from the middle of last month.

The daily rate peaked at 289 on 25 June, the day after the referendum result was announced.

Incidents of hate crime in late June included the distribution of cards bearing the words "no more Polish vermin", and numerous reports of non-white people being told to leave the country.

'No place for hatred'

The main type of offence reported over the month was "violence against the person", which includes harassment and common assault, as well as verbal abuse, spitting and "barging".

Crown Prosecution Service figures released earlier this month showed it was prosecuting a record number of hate crimes.The CPS prosecuted 15,442 such crimes in 2015-16 - a 4.8% rise on the previous year. There were 13,032 prosecutions for racially and religiously aggravated hate crime, with a conviction rate of 83.8%.

Ms Rudd said hatred had "no place whatsoever in a 21st Century Great Britain".

"We are Great Britain because we are united by values such as democracy, free speech, mutual respect and opportunity for all," she said.