“Dear haters” or Letters from Scotland campaign, costs and measurements: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/03556  
Date received: 28 November 2018  
Date responded: 19 December 2018

 

 

1.   What is the official name or designation of the campaign known informally as the ‘Dear Haters’ campaign?

 

2.   How much are the Scottish government, its agencies and agents including Police Scotland spending on the campaign?

 

3.   From when until when is this campaign running?

 

4.   What are the objectives of the campaign?

 

5.   What criteria, benchmarks and metrics will the Scottish government use to assess the success of the campaign?

 

6.   What official predictions have been made as to the effect of this campaign on reported ‘hate crime’ and reported ‘hate incidents’ during the campaign and subsequent to the campaign?

 

7.   If reported ‘hate crime’ and /or reported ‘hate incidents’ are predicted to rise as a result of this campaign what additional funding has been budgeted and / or allocated to deal with this?

 

8.   Which charities and other external bodies were consulted during the preparation of this campaign?

 

 

The information we can provide to your request is as follows:

 

1.   What is the official name or designation of the campaign known informally as the ‘Dear Haters’ campaign?

 

The campaign used the hashtag ‘Report Hate’, but it has also been referred to as the ‘Letters from Scotland’ campaign.

 

2.   How much are the Scottish government, its agencies and agents including Police Scotland spending on the campaign?

 

The total cost of this campaign was £300,000 and was paid by the Scottish Government. No Scottish Government agency, including Police Scotland, contributed money towards the development of the campaign.

 

3.    From when until when is this campaign running?

 

The campaign was officially launched on 26 September and ran until 1 November.

 

4.   What are the objectives of the campaign?

 

To achieve 50% awareness of the campaign among the target audience by December 2018.

To generate 65% campaign motivation among those in the target audience who have seen it by December 2018

To maintain the proportion of the target audience who have heard of hate crime and definitely/think they know what it is at 89% by December 2018
To increase the proportion of the target audience who claim they would report hate crime if they witnessed it by 4 percentage points by December 2018 (from 72%)
To generate 48% claimed action in response to the campaign among those who have seen it by December 2018
To increase by 4 percentage points the proportion of the target audience who agree that ‘it’s important to report hate crime to reduce it happening’ (from 80%)

 

5.   What criteria, benchmarks and metrics will the Scottish government use to assess the success of the campaign?

 

We will use pre and post research among the target audience to assess the extent to which the campaign meets the objectives. We will also look at media monitoring and website statistics and, when available, official statistics.

 

6.   What official predictions have been made as to the effect of this campaign on reported ‘hate crime’ and reported ‘hate incidents’ during the campaign and subsequent to the campaign?

 

To increase the number of hate related incidents recorded by Police Scotland by 7% from December 2017 to December 2018.

 

7.   If reported ‘hate crime’ and /or reported ‘hate incidents’ are predicted to rise as a result of this campaign what additional funding has been budgeted and / or allocated to deal with this?

 

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) through grant in aid. In 2018-19, the budget is around £1.1bn. The Scottish Police Authority is responsible for maintaining the Police Service of Scotland, and as such is responsible for the allocation of resources to the Chief Constable.

 

8.   Which charities and other external bodies were consulted during the preparation of this campaign?

 

On 9 August the Scottish Government held a meeting with stakeholders to seek feedback on the campaign proposals. The following organisations attended:
COSLA
BEMIS
CEMVO
Central Scotland Regional Equality Council
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights
Community Safety Glasgow
COPFS
Edinburgh Interfaith Association
Equality Network
Glasgow City Council
I Am Me Project
Inclusion Scotland
Interfaith Scotland
LGBT Youth Scotland
Mental Health Foundation
People First (Scotland)
Police Scotland
SCoJeC
Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society

 

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses