Summary
Labour plans to change how police in England and Wales record non-crime hate incidents. The changes aim to ensure these incidents are only logged when relevant to policing, following a review that found issues with current practices. The government expects full implementation of these changes by early 2027.
Key Facts
- Labour intends to change the rules for recording non-crime hate incidents in England and Wales.
- New guidelines will suggest logging incidents only if they are relevant to policing.
- The original system to record such incidents was developed in the mid-2000s for crime prevention purposes.
- A police review found the current system to be disproportionate and outdated for handling social media debates.
- About 30,000 non-crime hate incidents were recorded from 2022 to 2025.
- Proposed changes will include a "triage system" to decide whether incidents need logging, with specialized training and AI tools for officers.
- These incidents can appear in enhanced background checks for job applications.
- The Home Office accepted the review's recommendations, but the Conservatives criticized the changes as inadequate.
