Agenda item

Hate Crime

It was moved by Councillor Nikki Bond, seconded by Councillor Neale Gibson, that this Council:-

(a)       understands the deeply impactful nature of hate crimes and the importance of tackling hate crime in our city of Sanctuary;

(b)       welcomes proposals by Shadow Home Secretary, The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, that a future Labour Government will tackle the rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia and abuse of disabled people in the UK, by making homophobic and disability hate crimes an aggravated criminal offence, ensuring that the Police treat such offences in the same way as racist hate crimes;

(c)        deplores proposals by UKIP to remove the race legislation within the Equality Act as this will exacerbate the level of race hate crime in our society, which was recorded as 536 incidents across South Yorkshire in 2013/14 and far exceeds other types of hate crime;

(d)       condemns the homophobic and misogynistic comments of a former Conservative candidate who tweeted his hateful views in response to news of an important research project into femicide, and believes there is no place for this type of attitude in Sheffield;

(e)       welcomes Sheffield City Council’s inclusion of gender as a category for hate crime and recognises the importance of defining hate crime as prejudice against people of protected characteristics and other recognisable groups;

(f)        recognises the work done by the Council to tackle hate crime by working in partnership with the Police and other agencies to encourage reporting through Third Party reporting centres;

(g)       acknowledges that the level of reporting of hate crime in Sheffield is not an accurate portrayal of the number of hate crime incidents and that more needs to be done to help people feel comfortable to report, with this including better promotion and publicity of Third Party reporting centres, and an increased number of them; and

(h)       welcomes the organisation of a hate crime workshop in June, organised through the Equality Hub Network, where there will be an opportunity to learn more about Third Party reporting centres and how to set one up, and encourages Sheffield citizens to attend the workshop in order to discuss how to tackle hate crime and make it easier to report.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Richard Shaw, seconded by Councillor Katie Condliffe, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraph (b) and the addition of a new paragraph (b) as follows:-

(b)       thanks the Liberal Democrats in government for blocking the Conservative Party’s attempts to get rid of the Human Rights Act 1998, which enshrined in UK law the European Convention on Human Rights, securing individuals’ rights to privacy, freedom of religion, expression, association and assembly, to marry and found a family, and protecting people from discrimination; as well as:-

(i)         working with charities and other organisations to stamp out hate crime against people from ethnic minorities, noting in particular, that the Liberal Democrats have launched schemes to tackle Anti-Muslim and Anti-Semitic hate crime;

(ii)        delivering better recording of, and response to, hate crimes against people with disabilities and making it a legal right for people not to be discriminated against or harassed because they care for someone with disabilities; and

(iii)       recording homophobic hate crime better and helping schools tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived. 

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried, as follows:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       understands the deeply impactful nature of hate crimes and the importance of tackling hate crime in our city of Sanctuary;

(b)       welcomes proposals by Shadow Home Secretary, The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, that a future Labour Government will tackle the rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia and abuse of disabled people in the UK, by making homophobic and disability hate crimes an aggravated criminal offence, ensuring that the Police treat such offences in the same way as racist hate crimes;

(c)        deplores proposals by UKIP to remove the race legislation within the Equality Act as this will exacerbate the level of race hate crime in our society, which was recorded as 536 incidents across South Yorkshire in 2013/14 and far exceeds other types of hate crime;

(d)       condemns the homophobic and misogynistic comments of a former Conservative candidate who tweeted his hateful views in response to news of an important research project into femicide, and believes there is no place for this type of attitude in Sheffield;

(e)       welcomes Sheffield City Council’s inclusion of gender as a category for hate crime and recognises the importance of defining hate crime as prejudice against people of protected characteristics and other recognisable groups;

(f)        recognises the work done by the Council to tackle hate crime by working in partnership with the Police and other agencies to encourage reporting through Third Party reporting centres;

(g)       acknowledges that the level of reporting of hate crime in Sheffield is not an accurate portrayal of the number of hate crime incidents and that more needs to be done to help people feel comfortable to report, with this including better promotion and publicity of Third Party reporting centres, and an increased number of them; and

(h)       welcomes the organisation of a hate crime workshop in June, organised through the Equality Hub Network, where there will be an opportunity to learn more about Third Party reporting centres and how to set one up, and encourages Sheffield citizens to attend the workshop in order to discuss how to tackle hate crime and make it easier to report.

(Notes: 1. Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Richard Shaw, Rob Frost, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Diana Stimely, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Denise Reaney, David Baker, Katie Condliffe and Vickie Priestley voted for paragraphs (a) and (c) to (h) and against paragraph (b) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.

2. Councillors Jillian Creasy, Robert Murphy, Sarah Jane Smalley and Brian Webster voted for paragraphs (a) to (c) and (e) to (h) and abstained on paragraph (d) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.

3. Councillors Jack Clarkson and John Booker voted for paragraphs (a), (b) and (d) to (h) and against paragraph (c) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)