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Written question asked by Rupert Lowe (Independent (affiliation)) on Monday, 27 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 October 2025. It was answered by Jake Richards (Labour) on Tuesday, 4 November 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Religious Hatred

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) his Department and (b) other Government departments distinguish between offences committed against (i) Christian, (ii) Muslim, (iii) Jewish and (iv) other places of worship in its (A) crime and (B) conviction data collections.

Answer

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences, including violence against the person by defendant’s age, sex and ethnicity, in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK.

It is not possible to disaggregate the data to identify individuals who were convicted of offences committed against a person from specific religious backgrounds including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian churches/other places of worship nor the nationality of the offender. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.

We are committed to creating a more stable and sustainable criminal justice system, in which victims and the public can have confidence. In December 2024, Government commissioned the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to propose reform to improve timeliness in the courts and deliver swift justice for victims.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
85481
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Religious hatred
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk