A hate incident is any incident committed against a person where the victim or any other person believes it is motivated by the offender’s hate against people because of who they are. This may be on the basis of a victim's:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Race
• Religion and belief
• Sexuality

What counts as a hate incident?

Hate incidents can occur in a number of ways:

• Unprovoked assaults including common assault; actual bodily harm, and grievous bodily harm
• Damage to property including breaking windows, doors and fences
• The daubing of slogans and/or graffiti on or near a victim’s house or other belongings (cars etc)
• Putting rags, paper, rubbish or any material that can be or has been set alight through for example, someone’s letterbox.
• Putting noxious and/or offensive substances through someone’s letterbox.
• Making threatening and/or abusive telephone calls, text messages or e-mails.
• Threatening or abusive behaviour
• Participation in any activity that is calculated to deter the person from occupying a particular property

Often hate incidents can be a combination of the above. This can occur for instance in neighbour disputes when both verbal insults and property damage occurs, or bullying at school which consists of name-calling and physical abuse.

Racist incidents

The majority of hate incidents reported within South Derbyshire have been racist incidents. There is specific legislation in place to help councils to deal with this type of hate incident. The Home Office in April 2000 produced specific guidance in the form of the national Code Of Practice for Reporting Racial Incidents. Our procedure complies with the code of practice.

A racist incident is a hate crime committed against a person because of their race, colour, ethnic or national origin. A racist incident is defined as:

"…any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person" (Sir William Macpherson - Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report, February 1999)

The purpose of the definition is to ensure that when a racist incident is investigated, the possibility the incident occurred because of a person's race is taken into account. The definition also ensures racist incidents are recorded and monitored in a uniform way.

In making judgements about racial incidents it is the behaviour and its impact on the recipient/victim, not the intentions of the perpetrator that is important.

The purpose of this definition is not to prejudge whether a perpetrator's motive was racial or not, but to ensure that any investigation takes full account of the possibility of any racial dimension to an incident and provide statistical data that is collected on a uniform basis. As such, we will take the following approach to the recording of racist incidents:

• Where the victim indicates they feel the incident was racist, it must be recorded as such.
• Where the victim is undecided whether an incident was racist in nature, or even if they are of the view that it was not racist, the incident must be recorded as racist if someone else e.g. a witness views it as such.
• Sometimes an incident is brought to the attention of our officers but is not accompanied by a complaint (e.g. graffiti). If the officer perceives that the incident is racist or has the potential to be interpreted as such by other people then the incident must be recorded.

We have taken the above approach for racist incidents and expanded it to include all forms of hate incidents.

How to report a hate incident

We receive and record ALL Hate Incident complaints that are brought to our attention and not just complaints against the Council.

Why is the Council recording hate incidents?

All Councils have a general duty to promote disability, gender and racial equality, eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote good relations between different communities and between disabled people and non-disabled people. As such, when any hate incident is brought to the attention of South Derbyshire District Council it will be recorded, and monitored.

How to complete the Hate Incident Reporting Form

You can download the form using the link below, or contact us using the details below. 

Some sections of the form are completed by the victim / complainant and other sections are completed by the member of staff who receives the form when it is returned to us:

Section A contains information relating to the incident and details such as the ethnicity, age, gender etc of the victim and offender. This will be used for monitoring the level and types of incidents in South Derbyshire. This section is completed by the victim/complainant.

Sections B & C contain personal information relating to the details of the victim and offender. These sections are CONFIDENTIAL.

Section B3 is completed by the victim / complainant.

Section B4 & B5 are all completed by the receiving officer in Customer Services.

Section C is completed by the victim / complainant. Please note that it would be useful for a telephone number or other means of contact to be provided so the receiving officer can contact the victim/complainant if the reported incident is serious or information has been omitted.

As soon as the Hate Incident Report is complete it is Confidential and we have a duty under the Data Protection Act 1998 to protect the data.

On completion of the form:
1. Print off the form (if downloaded electronically
2. Make sure that the correct signature is on the form (See Part C)
3. Return the Form by hand or post in a sealed envelope (marked "Private & Confidential – Addressee only") to:

Complaints Officer
South Derbyshire District Council
Civic Offices
Civic Way
Swadlincote
Derbyshire DE11 0AH

Dealing with the complaint

Where the reported hate incident concerns our services, employees or tenants it will be handled through our Complaints Procedure. A summary of the stages within the Complaints Procedure that will be followed is shown below:

Stage 1

Customer Services Unit will co-ordinate the investigation into the complaint. They will write to the complainant within five working days, telling them who is dealing with the complaint and when to expect to receive a reply. In most cases a full reply will be given within ten working days but if it is going to take longer, the complainant must be informed about what is happening.

Stage 2

We hope that most complaints can be dealt with to give a satisfactory outcome. If the complainant still feels dissatisfied after receiving a reply they can ask for the complaint to be reviewed by the Chief Executive. The Customer Services Unit will then pass the details of the complaint to the Chief Executive, who will review the complaint and come to a decision. A review should take place and a decision made within ten working days but if it is going to take longer, the complainant should be kept informed of progress until a decision has been made.

Contact Details

South Derbyshire District Council
Customer Services Manager
Civic Offices
Civic Way
Swadlincote
Derbyshire
DE11 0AH
telephone: 01283 595847
e-mail: customer.services@south-derbys.gov.uk  

What other action can be taken?

The complainant has the right to ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate their complaint if they feel they have been unfairly treated due to maladministration by the Council.

"Maladministration" refers to the way a case has been handled or a council’s failure to do something, not the actual decision.

The Local Government Ombudsman is an independent arbitrator whose decision is final. Customer Services can provide details on how to contact the Local Government Ombudsman.

The complainant can also refer to the following agencies:

Equality and Human Rights Commission Helpline

The Equality and Human Rights Commission helpline gives information and guidance on discrimination and human rights issues. The helpline staff have been specially trained to provide this service.

Equality and Human Rights Commission
Freepost RRLL-GHUX-CTRX
Arndale House
Arndale Centre
Manchester
M4 3EQ
Telephone 0845 604 6610
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9:00 am-5:00 pm;
Wed 9:00 am-8:00 pm (last call taken at 7:45pm)

Derbyshire Police

The Police have a Community Safety Officer in each of the four police divisions within Derbyshire. The Community Safety Officer deals with racist and cultural issues and can provide advice, discuss what has happened to you or put you in touch with other agencies that may be able to provide you with other forms of support

The appropriate contact details are provided below:

Derby and South Derbyshire 01332 613073
Amber Valley/Erewash 01773 571757
High Peaks/Derbyshire Dales 01298 762067
Chesterfield 01246 522368
Force Hate Crime Officer 01773 572233