COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (107) issued by The Government News Network
on 13 May 2008
Action is being
taken across government to tackle antisemitism said Cohesion
Minister Parmjit Dhanda today as he published the
Government's one year on response to the All Party
Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism.
In March 2007 Government responded to the All Party Parliamentary
Inquiry into Antisemitism report and undertook to report back to
Parliament on progress in implementing its recommendations.
These actions included measures to improve the recording and
reporting of antisemitic incidents; increasing the effectiveness
of the criminal justice system in prosecuting hate crimes,
promoting community cohesion and shared values; the creation of a
cross government working task group and an increase in the work
being done by schools on this issue.
We have made significant progress against the 35 recommendations
made by the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry's constructive
and comprehensive report.
Including:-
* The Crown Prosecution Service's comprehensive review on
the low number of antisemitic prosecutions and the subsequent
commitment to develop an Action Plan, which sets out the work
needed to build on the progress that has already been achieved.
* ensuring that by April 2009 all police forces will collect data
on all hate crime, including anti-Semitism;
* agreeing that local authorities can use their devolved capital
funding for investment in security at schools where this is a priority;
* Funding the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary
Antisemitism (EISCA) to research the impact of antisemitic discourse;
* The launch of the Race for Justice Declaration - a
cross-government strategy which aims to combat all forms of hate crime.
* A commitment to significantly increase the level of annual core
funding provided to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for each of
the next three years.
Cohesion Minister Parmjit Dhanda said:
"We have made good progress against the recommendations but
there is no room for complacency. We will continue to take
practical, effective action to stamp out antisemitism whenever and
wherever it occurs.
"We are committed to increasing the number of hate crimes
brought to prosecution, tackling antisemitism on university
campuses, and challenging hate crime and extremism on the
internet. We have agreed to continue our support of the
cross-departmental and Jewish stakeholder working group and will
report back to parliament on further progress in 2010.
"I am delighted with the progress we have made and I'
am very grateful to the APPG for initiating this important work."
John Mann MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against
Antisemitism said:
"I am delighted to see that real progress has been made over
the past 12 months. The purpose of the Inquiry our group
commissioned was to engage government and civil society as
partners in the struggle against prejudice and discrimination and
this report shows that we are advancing towards where we need to
be with particularly good news relating to prosecutions, policing
and international cooperation.
"Parliament will continue to watch with interest as these
recommendations and innovations are implemented, especially in the
most pressing spheres like antisemitism on campus. There is no
room for complacency in this essential endeavour - we look to
government and civil society to sustain this encouraging effort
and anticipate government's next progress report by 2010."
Notes to Editors:
1. The progress report can be viewed at the following site http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/progressreport
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom