Hate Crime Strategy delivery plan 2023 to 2026: implementation review

Ministerial Foreword

Scotland is home to a vibrant and diverse population, strengthened by the connections we build through our shared values of kindness, dignity and respect. These qualities are evident in the way we live and work together, and shine across our communities every day.

Yet we must also acknowledge that we are not immune to the impacts of hatred and prejudice, and that we share a collective responsibility to confront these harms wherever they arise.

It is this shared leadership that defined the development of our Hate Crime Strategy, as well as the delivery of this Hate Crime Strategy Delivery Plan. The strategy was informed by lived experience, which was conducted by members of our Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group. This engagement ultimately informed the actions that have progressed in the years following publication of the Delivery Plan in November 2023.

I would therefore like to express my sincere thanks to the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group who have continually shown collaboration and leadership across this programme of work, as well as to individual partners or other organisations that took forward specific actions or activity. I am also very grateful to those who gave up their time and shared their experiences with us during this delivery period. Your unique insight, feedback, direction and collective effort was invaluable in shaping and delivering our commitments and I am immensely proud of everything that has been achieved in this time.

This Implementation Review Report details the range of activity that has been undertaken since 2023 as part of our actions to ensure improved support for victims of hate crime, improve data and evidence on hate crime and to prevent hate crime and build community cohesion. I am heartened by the volume and scale of this work, particularly given the fact that this work has taken place against a backdrop of a range of challenges that have impacted on cohesion within Scotland, the UK and across the world. The report also highlights that there’s a range of actions that have been achieved that we can build upon, as well as areas that might require additional engagement to understand new priorities.

As we close this iteration of Hate Crime Strategy delivery activity, I’m reminded that tackling hatred prejudice and looking out for one another is not just a policy goal. It is not optional or idealistic; it is part of the fabric of our lives in this country.

Siobhian Brown , Minister For Victims And Community Safety