This resource is from the Partnerships section. This page contains information on the scrutiny of boroughs by the London Race Hate Crime Forum.

Sections available here:

• RHCF - scrutiny of boroughs

RHCF - scrutiny of boroughs

London Race Hate Crime Forum (RHCF)

In 2004 the Forum began an investigation into London’s boroughs to see what programmes were in place for tackling race hate crime. The boroughs were prioritised by the number of racist incidents reported to the Metropolitan Police Service, those with the highest volume of incidents or showing a large year on year increase presented first.

The Forum acknowledges that increased numbers of crimes may be due to increased community confidence in reporting existing race hate crime rather than simply a rise in the number of incidents. These issues will be explored further at the Forum meetings and in reports produced by the Forum.
The initial eight boroughs seen were Hounslow, Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Westminster, Barnet, Southwark and Croydon. Following the investigation of these boroughs an annual report  was produced.

In 2005 the Forum went on to hear from a further eight boroughs, these being Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Brent, Lewisham, Islington, Lambeth, Camden and Hackney. In a similar format to 2004 an annual report update was produced on the Forums work.

In 2006 the Forum completed its most recent set of borough meetings with presentations heard from Bexley, Enfield, Ealing, Merton, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, and Haringey. As in previous years an update of the annual report will be produced reflecting on the work of the Forum.

2007 will see the final set of meetings with the Forum hearing presentations from Richmond upon Thames, Bromley, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Redbridge and Sutton.

As in previous years these selected boroughs will be invited to present their schemes and initiatives on race hate crime to the Forum. Areas the Forum is particularly keen to hear more information about include:

• Details of the BOCU Race/Hate Crime Hotspots.
• Number of ABC or ASBOS obtained during the reporting year.
• Number of injunctions applied for against council tenants alleging inter alia race hate nuisance. Successful/unsuccessful.
• Number of possession actions taken against council tenants alleging racist conduct as part of the grounds.
• Number of council tenants/residents provided with panic alarms CCTV etc to protect against racial harassment.
• Number of council tenants that have requested a move alleging racial harassment as a reason for the move.
• Number of council tenants moved due in whole or in part due to race hate.
• Any recorded time scales by which victims received responses from the relevant agency involved.
• Any community satisfaction surveys conducted over the last three years.

Proposed dates for 2007 borough presentations can be found at presentations timetable.

The following supporting material is available as a PDF document:

• London Race Hate Crime Forum annual report 2004-05

Portable Document Format (PDF) files require Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download from Adobe.

The following pages on the MPA website are relevant:

• London Race Hate Crime Forum
  Details purpose structure and press releases of RHCF
• RHCF - terms of reference
• RHCF - presentations timetable