Question reference: S6W-26895
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 18 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 26 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing with faith groups, including churches, to ensure that they understand how the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 potentially impacts on their practice, in light of reports that some faith communities are unsure about what impact the Act could have on them.
Answer
As part of its Faith and Belief Engagement Strategy, Scottish Government regularly meets with representatives from a wide variety of faith and belief communities across Scotland to discuss issues of interest to them. This has included discussions with officials developing the Hate Crime Strategy. Those representatives were recently provided with a factsheet, clarifying aspects of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, and which is intended to be disseminated by those representatives through Churches and other places of worship, along with wider faith and belief communities across Scotland.
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act: factsheet - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)