Corporate Racial
Harassment
Strategy
Aim & Intent
“To provide a framework for ensuring a comprehensive and
consistent approach to tackling incidents of racial
harassment. This strategy outlines Hounslow’s response to
all incidents of racial harassment in the context of
employment, customer complaints and service delivery”
Draft 6 – 21st September 2001
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Contents
Contents Page ................................................................................................................. 2-3
Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………….4
1.
Introduction and background ........................................................................................ 5
2.
Aims & Objectives..................................................................................................... 5-6
3.
Scope of this strategy………………………………………………………………………6-8
4.
Definition................................................................................................................... 8-9
5.
Types and nature of incidents……………………………………………………………….9
6.
Underpinning Principles ...........................................................................................9-10
7.
Monitoring ................................................................................................................... 10
8.
Racial Harassment Performance Indicator (BVPI 174/5) 2000/01...……………….10-11
9.
Publicity ...................................................................................................................... 11
10. Training…………………………………………………………………………………...11-12
11. Lawrence Inquiry Scrutiny Panel Report..................................................................... 12
12. CRE Standard for Local Government ......................................................................... 12
13. Partnership/ Multi-agency working .........................................................................12-13
14. Review and Evaluation ............................................................................................... 13
Appendix 1 - Legal Content ............................................................................................ 14
Legislation relevant to Local Authorities:...................................................................... 14
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Race Relations Act 1976 ..................................................................................... 14
Race Relations (amendment) Act 2000 ............................................................... 14
The Crime & Disorder Act 1998 ........................................................................... 14
Local Government Act 1972 ................................................................................ 14
Housing Act 1995 ................................................................................................ 15
Housing Act 1996 ................................................................................................ 15
Protection From Eviction Act 1977 ...................................................................... 15
Highways Act 1980 .............................................................................................. 15
Environmental Protection Act 1990 ..................................................................... 15
Town & Country Act 1990 .................................................................................... 16
Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994 ........................................................ 16
Legislation enforceable by the Police & CPS ............................................................ 16
 The Crime & Disorder Act 1998 ........................................................................... 16
 Protection From Harassment Act 1997 ................................................................ 16
 Public Order Act 1986 ......................................................................................... 17
 Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994 ........................................................ 17
 Criminal Damage Act 1971 ................................................................................. 17
 Criminal Compensation Act 1973 ........................................................................ 18
 Offences Against The Person .............................................................................. 18
Civil Action ................................................................................................................... 18
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Appendix 2 - Third Party Reporting Centres…………………………………………….…19
Appendix 3 - Racial Incident Monitoring Form…….……………………………………....20
Appendix 4 - Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire…...………………………………….21
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Summary of Strategy
This document encapsulates the Council's strategy for addressing racial harassment in
light of the Best Value Review and Lawrence recommendations. It is intended to inform all
corporate and departmental policies and procedures which may be used to address racial
harassment. The Best Value Review identified the overall lack of a corporate policy,
collective ownership and organisational co-ordination for race equality and racial
harassment within a SMART framework.
Furthermore, recent experiences in other parts of the country provide an indication of the
potential damage and cost associated with failure to take effective action within a multi
agency framework.
An Inter-Departmental Racial Harassment Working Group, consisting of one
representative from each of the council's directorates will be responsible for implementing
the strategy and annually reviewing its effectiveness.
In order to ensure some level of organisational consistency, this strategy sets the following
minimum corporate standards:
 the use of the Lawrence Inquiry definition of a racial incident within all corporate and
departmental policies and procedures used to address racial harassment across the
authority
 all corporate and departmental procedures used to address racial harassment must
have the ability to capture data required for Best Value Performance Indicators
purposes
 the use of a common incident monitoring form to record brief information about all
racial harassment incidents reported to the Council
 the use of customer satisfaction questionnaires to monitor the service received by
victims of racial harassment
 the publication of a quarterly report on racial harassment highlighting any significant
changes in the improvement plan to the Multi Agency Partnership/Interdepartmental
Working Group
The strategy also sets out a number of common principles which are intended to underpin
the Council's approach for addressing racial harassment, whatever its context.
Sections 9 and 10 respectively describe the Council's publicity and training strategy with
respect to racial harassment.
Appendix 1 provides a useful summary of legislation which is relevant to the work of local
authorities and the police amongst others concerning racial harassment. Appendix 2 & 4
provide information on third party reporting centres and Customer Satisfaction
Questionnaires respectively. Appendix 3 is the Home Office proforma for recording and
reporting of racist incidents complying with recommendation 15 of the Lawrence Enquiry.
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1.
Introduction and Background Context
In 1989 Hounslow Council developed an all encompassing corporate race equality
statement, which enabled the development of procedures to address racial harassment in
the context of employment, customer complaints, multi-agency working, community
development education and housing. However, 12 years on there is little evidence that the
implementation of this statement has been sustained.
The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report and subsequent Best Value review of racial
harassment highlighted the consequences of not having a consistent and comprehensive
approach to tackling incidents of racial harassment. This strategy and the accompanying
monitoring procedure are intended to ensure that there is a minimum and necessary level
of consistency in responding to racial harassment throughout Hounslow Council,
regardless of the context in which the harassment occurs, or the policy or procedure under
which the harassment is reported.
The changing national agenda and the Government’s high profile commitment to race
equality has created a culture where public bodies will need to strengthen their strategies
to tackle racism. In April 2000, in response to recommendations 13 to 15 of the Stephen
Lawrence Inquiry Report, the Home Office launched the first ever national Code of
Practice to deal with incidents of racial harassment. The code of practice identified serious
faults in the way agencies responded to racial harassment, as well as highlighting
inconsistent practice throughout the country. It strongly recommends consistency,
partnership working and clear policy and procedures to deal with racially motivated
incidents.
Racial harassment can be reported through a number of routes, such as employment,
customer complaints and service delivery. Irrespective of where and through which
procedure racial harassment is reported, staff responding to such incidents need to apply
the principles of this strategy as well as use the corporate ‘Incident Monitoring Form’ .
Such an approach will bring the current ‘disjointed’ policies and procedures that deal with
racial harassment into one consistent strategic framework.
2.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of Hounslow Council’s racial harassment strategy is:
“To provide a framework for ensuring a holistic and consistent
approach to tackling incidents of racial harassment is undertaken in the
context of employment, customer complaints and service delivery.”
Through this strategy, a fundamental and minimum level of consistency will be
engendered throughout the council in terms of our approach towards tackling racial
harassment. Whilst different policies, procedures and practices may be invoked for dealing
with racial harassment, (dependent on the context of the harassment and/or the
department which is dealing with it), in practice there will be a number of common
elements underpinning responses to racial harassment across the Council. These include
the use of a common definition for a racial incident, the collation of common incident
monitoring information and the use of customer satisfaction questionnaires to monitor the
service received by victims.
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The objectives of the strategy are:
 To ensure the “ Lawrence” definition of a racist incident is adopted when responding to
racial harassment no matter which context it takes place in.
 To ensure all corporate and departmental procedures used to address racism have the
capacity to capture data required for racial harassment related Best Value Performance
Indicators (see section 8 for more details on these).
 To ensure all departments use the incident monitoring form to record brief details of all
reported incidents and the customer satisfaction questionnaire.
 To ensure that as an organisation we have systems in place to respond to all reported
incidents of racial harassment across the council irrespective of what context it takes
place in.
 To tackle and reduce racial harassment and race crime within the context of the Crime
Reduction Strategy
 To bring all current policies which make reference to racial harassment into one
strategic framework.
 To produce good quality, accessible information for employees and local communities
about the general and specific issues associated with racial harassment, and the
services and solutions open to them.
 To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of services to victims of racial harassment
and the awareness of departments in challenging racial harassment and supporting
victims.
 To develop preventative programs of work with young people in partnership with
statutory and community organisations
 To ensure departments are more accountable to their employees and local
communities experiencing racial harassment.
 To develop and implement a co-ordinated program to improve community relations
between all sections of the community
 To promote and disseminate good practice and the benefits of working together
throughout the borough via the Multi Agency Partnership Against Racial Harassment in
Hounslow.
The strategy will be practically driven and implemented by the Inter-Departmental Working
Group on Racial Harassment.
3.
Scope of this Strategy
There are a number of routes through which incidents of racial harassment may be
reported to the Council. However, this strategy will inform responses to all reports of racial
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harassment, regardless of the route under which the report is made. As a minimum, it will
inform responses by requiring:
 the adoption of the Lawrence definition of a racist incident
 the capture of data required for Best Value Performance Indicator purposes and
 the use of a common Incident Monitoring Form and Customer Satisfaction
Questionnaire
Outlined below are all the various contexts within which racial harassment might be
reported to the council together with an explanation of the policies and procedures which
apply in each context.
 Employment (Abuse from staff) – Covering all employees of the Council. Employees
experiencing racial harassment in the workplace from other employees have the right
to make a complaint through the Council’s Harassment at Work Policy. Staff
responding to reports of racial harassment in the workplace will need to complete the
Incident Monitoring Form, make initial acknowledgements of complaints within 24 hours
and then formally respond within timescales stipulated within the procedure.
A formal harassment support procedure with Harassment Contacts/Union Harassment
stewards is currently being operated. The key principle of this approach is to enable
employees experiencing harassment to seek objective advice & support with a view to
making informed decisions. Staff involved in offering support to complainants of
harassment will need to complete the incident monitoring form . This can be done
without the need for consent of the victim, as the form will only require de-personalised
information for monitoring purposes.
 Employment (Abuse from service users) – During the delivery or discharge of
services, employees may be subject to racial harassment by the public and service
users. In this context, an employee should report the incident to their manager who
would need to provide an initial response within 24 hours of the complaint. (This would
have to be no more than an acknowledgement that the report had been received and
would dealt with). The manager will need to complete the Incident Monitoring Form. If
the harassment is threatening or violent in nature, the Council’s ‘ Managing Violence at
Work’ policy will need to come into operation. If an employee is not satisfied with the
manager's response the ‘Grievance’ procedure should be used.
 Service delivery (complaints from service users where specific departmental
policies/procedures are in place to deal with the complaint)
Members of the public and service users experiencing racial harassment may report
incidents directly to the Council or other designated third party reporting centres.
Historically, many incidents have been reported to the Council in its capacity as a
Landlord, Education Provider and Carer. This is due to the established policies and
procedures within the Housing, Education and Social Services Departments
respectively responding to such incidents. When such departmental policies and
procedures are used to deal with reports of racial harassment, staff will need to ensure
that the Incident Monitoring Form is completed.
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 Complaints (from service users about Council employees or other service users)
Incidents may be reported through the Council’s ‘Complaints’ procedure. There are
two likely scenarios under which reports may be addressed through this procedure:
i)
where a customer or member of the public complains that an employee has
racially harassed them.
ii)
where a service user complains about another service user and there is no
departmental policy/procedure for dealing with this. Examples might include one
service user in a sports centre harassing another, or a member of the public in a
park harassing another.
In both types of scenarios the corporate complaints procedure will need to come into
operation and the Incident Monitoring Form will need to be completed. A trained pool
of investigators will be utilised to investigate and assist such complaints. These
investigators will have no affiliation or direct connection to the department experiencing
the complaint.
 Service Delivery (public to public)
There may be instances when members of the public wish to report incidents of racial
harassment which have taken place but which are in no way connected with the
Council, its staff or its services. Examples would include incidents of racial harassment
which takes place in pubs, on trains, on the streets, outside schools, in private
residential property and so on.
To enable the Council to respond to this category of incidents in a consistent manner,
work has been carried out in partnership with the police to identify a number of
reporting centres for such incidents. These may for example include places of worship,
colleges and voluntary agencies. A list of third party reporting centres is highlighted in
Appendix 2. Where such incidents are reported, staff receiving the complaints will not
be expected to take on a caseworker role. It is expected that staff will complete a basic
incident reporting form and then refer or direct the victim to the appropriate agency for
assistance. A local directory of services will be produced later this year to enable staff
to do this.
As indicated above, incidents of racial harassment may occur in any of the five different
contexts.
Despite the different policies and procedures used to address racial
harassment, this strategic framework will enable some level of consistency. The adoption
of a common corporate definition of racial harassment and the collation of a minimum level
of standard data about incidents through completion of the Incident Monitoring Form will
need to underpin all responses to incidents of racial harassment, no matter what context it
takes place in.
4.
Definition
A clearly identifiable definition which reflects the wishes and intentions of victims is a key
starting point for any procedure or policy intended to address racial harassment.
Historically, racial harassment definitions have tended to reflect organisational objectives
of agencies and not the wishes of victims. This led to a situation where the views of
victims were secondary in comparison to the perspective of agencies dealing with the
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reported incidents. As a result, since the late 1980’s definitions have been essentially
victim centred in nature.
This issue of definitions was further highlighted by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report
(SLIR) where it was identified that agencies having their own definitions created confusion
and inconsistencies made partnership working difficult. It is therefore recommended that in
line with the Home Office Code of Practice, the SLIR definition be adopted and
implemented by all departments:
“A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the
victim or any other person.”
This definition is victim centred and the term “racist incident” includes crimes and noncrimes. Both must be reported, recorded and investigated with equal commitment. The
definition should enable the council to capture all incidents with a racist element, including
low-level harassment (Recommendation 12 and 13 of the report of the Stephen Lawrence
Inquiry).
5.
Types & Nature of incidents
The types and nature of racially motivated incidents may be manifested in the following
ways (please note this is not a comprehensive nor an exhaustive list):
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offensive literature
damage to property
assault
verbal abuse & threats
malicious phone calls
threatening behaviour
arson
racist jokes, name calling and insults
racist graffiti & fly posting
and any other incident that is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other
person/agency
Please note in some instances victims of racial harassment may experience repeat
incidents e.g. verbal abuse & assault at the same time
6.
Underpinning Principles
To ensure the corporate racial harassment strategy is effective, departments will need to
ensure that they build the following principles into their approach to dealing with racial
harassment, whatever the context of the harassment and the procedure to be used:
 Develop a balanced approach taking into account support to victims, taking action
against perpetrators and long-term preventative action. All three measures are equally
important.
 Acknowledge reported incidents quickly, (within a 24 hour period whenever possible)
and provide feedback to complainants as soon as possible.
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 Commitment to record both crimes and non-crimes of racist incidents.
 Treat all victims and witnesses in a sensitive, supportive and understanding way.
 Make sure that staff dealing with incidents of racial harassment receive good quality
training/briefings thus demonstrating a commitment to race equality
 Information about the incident/s should be recorded clearly and on departmental
reporting forms (where these exist) and the corporate Incident Monitoring form. Copies
of the forms should be sent to the Chief Executives Directorate on a quarterly basis.
 If the victim agrees to the case being referred to the police or another department or
agency, this must be done as soon as possible, observing confidentiality ( where
appropriate). In the event of the victim not consenting to Police involvement, de
personalised information should be sent to the Community Safety Unit for criminal
intelligence purposes as soon as possible. The Inter departmental group will decide the
parameters of de personalised information.
 A contact person should make sure that the victim is kept informed of progress of their
complaint.
 Members of the Inter-Departmental Working Group are to ensure that they identify and
allocate resources to tackle racial harassment in consultation with their departmental
Senior Management Teams/Divisional Management Teams.
7.
Monitoring
An Incident Monitoring form has been developed, (see Appendix 3) Departmental
representatives will need to ensure that the form is completed correctly. Details of each
incident reported will need to be logged along with details of action reflecting the possible
outcomes. All information should be recorded at the time of the reported incident/s . This
applies to incidents reported in both new and old (ongoing) cases.
It is the responsibility of members of the Inter-Departmental Working Group to collate data
on all incident monitoring forms from their department. Copies of the form/s must be
forwarded to the Chief Executives Directorate at the end of each quarter. Members of the
Inter-Departmental Group will also need to raise information arising from the data collected
with their Senior/Divisional Management Team. The monitoring process will help identify
gaps in the services provided, inform future policies to tackle racial harassment and collate
data for Best Value Performance Indicator purposes.
Furthermore, monitoring of incidents of racist grafitti should be presented to the Multi
Agency Partnership against Racial Harassment in Hounslow on a quarterly basis
8.
Racial Harassment Performance Indicators
It is the government's intention to formalise and standardise the approach to racial
harassment throughout Local Government. In April 2000 two new Audit Commission
Performance Indicators covering racial harassment were introduced. With effect from April
2001, these became Best Value Performance Indicators. They are:
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 BV PI 174 - “number of racial incidents per 100,000 of the population”.
 BV PI 175 - “the percentage of racial incidents that result in further action”.
These Performance Indicators will be incorporated in the ‘ Race Equality Action Plans’ of
all departments.
The Performance Indicators will also be included in the quarterly Performance Monitoring
Reports (PMR). Information will be collated by Inter-Departmental Working Group
representatives and will be forwarded to departmental PI co-ordinators on a quarterly
basis for PMR purposes. As indicated in section 7 above, departmental representatives
will also need to forward copies of all incident monitoring forms to the Corporate Race
Unit on a quarterly basis.
By monitoring racist incidents through the corporate Incident Monitoring Form the Council
will be able to fulfil its best value performance indicator objectives.
9.
Publicity
A holistic publicity strategy will be developed to demonstrate our existing commitments
and intentions, outline services to victims, publicising legal action against perpetrators,
raise awareness amongst the wider community and council staff.
Information posters, leaflets, and a directory of services, will be produced by the Multi
Agency Partnership with other agencies outlining the various services available in
Hounslow to tackle racial harassment. These will be displayed and available from local
agencies, schools, community centres etc.
Departments are also encouraged to use the local media to highlight their commitment,
services and successful actions taken to address racial harassment. An effective publicity
campaign will enable the following:
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Engender confidence in communities to report incidents.
Send a strong message that racism will not be tolerated
Highlighting the Council’s commitment to deal with perpetrators thus deterring others.
Raise awareness about the issue amongst the wider community
Members of the Inter-Departmental Working Group should liase with the Council’s Public
Relations Unit when involved in such situations.
10.
Training
In order to ensure the effective operational impact of this strategy, training will be
essential. The Best Value Review recommended that all front line staff in each service
area are trained and developed to address the needs of victims (Recommendation 3).
Operational/front line staff/Members - Through the Corporate training programme,
training to enable operational/Frontline staff/Members to deal effectively with reports of
racial harassment will be prioritised. Training will focus on the practical steps required to
deal with reported incidents of racial harassment; including the gathering of evidence,
offering support to victims, dealing with perpetrators, referring cases to other agencies,
organising action plans, as well as providing an outline of this strategy. To complement
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this training, departments are encouraged to convey relevant information to staff via team
meetings, lunch time seminars or departmental newsletters etc.
Racism & Racial Harassment Training sponsored by the Multi Agency Partnership Against
Racial Harassment in Hounslow will complement the above mentioned by extending
training to our registered social landlord partners as well as voluntary agencies.
11.
Lawrence Inquiry Scrutiny Panel Report
This report has been written in response to the issues and recommendations arising from
the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report (SLIR). The Report concludes that like any other
large organisation, Hounslow Council is institutionally racist. However, the local authority
has demonstrated over the past 20 years that it has sought to address and challenge
racism through practice and policy development.
Furthermore, the Panel Report was concerned at the lack of infrastructure support to
assist the Council in its pursuit in addressing discrimination and makes some very specific
recommendations both as an employer and service provider. It highlighted the gap
between strategic planning and support to deliver at the “ front end “ of Council business.
Reflecting the principles of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report and taking into account
the Council’s current approach, the conclusion suggests that as an organisation we may
be deemed as ‘failing’.
A number of key priority areas were identified that relate directly to Hounslow’s approach
to tackling racial harassment and racism.These included :
 Effective Anti –Racism Training
 Dealing with Black and minority ethnic staff in a sensitive manner
 Dealing with racial harassment effectively
 Publicity
It is envisaged that the holistic Race Strategy and resultant work programme will address
these issues.
12.
CRE Standards for Local Government
The Council has decided to undertake and measure performance of all its work around
race equality through the ‘CRE Standard for Local Government’ performance management
framework. This will ensure that work to promote race equality and tackle racism is
consistently applied throughout the Council. The aim is to mainstream race equality into
all aspects and functions of Hounslow Council.
As a result, the effectiveness of Hounslow’s Council’s approach to address racial
harassment will be assessed and reviewed in the context of the ‘CRE Standard for Local
Government’. With the CRE Standard becoming a Best Value Performance Indicator as of
April 2000, it is essential that members of the Inter-Departmental Working Group measure
performance in the context of this framework. The adoption of this strategic framework,
and the Incident Monitoring Form will also be valuable evidence demonstrating conformity
to the ‘CRE Standard for Local Government.’
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13.
Partnership/ Multi-Agency Working
The Home Office and the CRE have made it clear that addressing racial harassment can
only be effective if agencies work in partnership. Furthermore, the Best Value Review
reinforced the establishment of a consistent partnership approach to tackling racial
harassment.
Therefore in this spirit, corporate and departmental frameworks should not operate in
isolation to the work undertaken by other agencies to address racial harassment. All
departments are expected to foster and maintain good working relationships with various
local statutory, voluntary and community agencies. In particular departments are
encouraged to develop good working links with the Multi Agency Partnership Against
Racial Harassment in Hounslow as well as the Community Safety Partnership .
The Multi Agency Partnership is a strategic borough wide multi-agency body , comprising
of various local statutory and voluntary agencies from a wide range of sectors. The InterDepartmental Working Group will need to nominate officers to this multi-agency body.
14.
Review and Evaluation
This strategy, the Incident Monitoring Form and its accompanying guidance will be
reviewed annually by the Inter-Departmental Working Group. Departmental
representatives are encouraged to evaluate and review the impact of this strategic
framework on their departments and thereafter regularly review the workings of their
departmental policies, procedures and practices.
A progress report on racial harassment work will be drafted and presented to the Multi
Agency Partnership Against Racial Harassment in Hounslow on a quarterly basis. This
will ensure local minority ethnic communities are given an opportunity to have their say
and to be involved in the process as well as fulfilling our obligations under the Race
Relations Act 2000.
The aim of the review process is to ensure the Council continually improves services to
address racial harassment in all its manifestations.
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Appendix 1 - Legal Content
Legislation used by Local Authorities to support racial harassment
work:
 Race Relations Act 1976
The original 1976 Act made it unlawful to discriminate in employment, housing and the
provision goods facilities and services. Case law has recognised racial harassment to
be a form of unlawful discrimination. Local authorities must therefore ensure that as
employers, service providers and providers of facilities they do not racially harass and
take positive steps to eliminate and prevent such behaviour. Since April 2001, with the
introduction of the Race Relations Amendment Act, all functions of public bodies are
now covered.
 Race Relations (amendment) Act 2000
This Act was introduced as a direct response to the Inquiry Report into the murder of
Stephen Lawrence. This legislation creates a new positive duty for Public Bodies to
promote race equality (quoted below). This means that racial equality work and
strategies to tackle racial harassment in Local Government are no longer optional.
S.71 of this requires that a local authority must 'in the carrying out of its functions
have due regard to the need
(a) to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination; and
(b) to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations
between persons of different racial groups'
 The Crime & Disorder Act 1998
Under the Crime & Disorder Act 1998, the local authority has a statutory duty to work
with the Police and other agencies to audit, formulate and implement a Crime
Reduction Strategy . Furthermore, there is a also a duty placed on elected members
and officers under section 17 of the Act to undertake their functions with due regard to
doing all that is reasonably possible to prevent crime and disorder. The council has
agreed a policy for taking forward its responsibilities which would clearly require
action in response to racial harassment and race crimes
Under this Act, the council has a duty to reduce crime (including racist crime) in its
area. Magistrate courts are able to issue parenting, child curfew to Councils in order
to protect local residents against acts of anti-social behaviour (including racial
harassment). Local authorities can seek Anti Social Behaviour Orders from the court
in consultation with the Police and there are agreed procedures for obtaining these.
Please note a breach of anti-social behaviour order can only be enforced by the Police
because at this stage it would become a Criminal Offence. These ‘orders; will provide
an invaluable way of tackling racial harassment.
 Local Government Act 1972
S.111 of the act provides a foundation for the local authority to do;
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'anything....which is calculated to facilitate or is conducive or incidental to the
discharge of any of their functions'
S.137 of this act enables the local authority to incur expenditure;
'which in their opinion is in the interest of their area or any part of it or all or some of its
inhabitants'
S.222 of this act enables local authorities to consider proceedings which are;
'expedient for the promotion of the interests of the inhabitants of their area'
The above powers can be used to take proceedings on behalf of a victim/s
experiencing racial harassment.
 Housing Act 1995
Schedule 2 gives Grounds for Possession.
There is a specific ground for breach of tenancy conditions in the form of nuisance.
Harassment is a form of nuisance.
 Housing Act 1996

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
Option for Introductory tenancies
Definition of nuisance changed to include behaviours likely to cause nuisance.
Evidence can now be given by Housing Officers or Professional Witnesses.
Possession proceedings can now be commenced upon serving of a Notice.
 Protection From Eviction Act 1977
S.1(3) of this act states as follows;
'If any person with intent to cause the residential occupier of any premises:
a) to give up the occupation of their premises or any part thereof or
b) to refrain from exercising any right or pursuing any remedy in respect of the
premises or part thereof;
does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or
members of his household, or persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonable
required for the occupation of the premises as a residence, he shall be guilty of an
offence.
 Highways Act 1980
S.130 gives all local authorities the power to;
'assert and protect' the right of the public to the ' use and enjoyment of the highway'.
(Local Authorities must exercise this power by means of an injunction)
These provisions could be applied to the distribution of leaflets by racist and far-right
groups.
 Environmental Protection Act 1990
This legislation can be useful in a proactive way because Local Authorities have a duty
to arrange for the inspection of their districts from time to time in order to detect the
existence of statutory nuisances which covers:
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 Noise...that is prejudicial to health, or a nuisance (coming from premises, or a vehicle
in the street)
 Any animal kept in such a place or manner so as to be prejudicial to health or a
nuisance
 Any accumulation or deposit which is prejudicial to health or a nuisance
This Act provides Local Authorities to serve an Abatement Notice on the person(s) 'by
whose act, default, or sufferance the nuisance arises or continues'.
This means, that in cases of racial harassment involving a deliberate campaign of
nuisance including noise and rubbish accumulation, the serving of an abatement may
put an end to the harassment.
 Town & Country Act 1990
S.224 states that it is an offence to display an advertisement in breach of the rules on
control of advertisements. The Act covers racist and fascist posters and stickers, that
are displayed illegally.
 Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994
S.163 states that Local Authorities have powers to provide close circuit television or
videos cameras;
'Without prejudice to any power which they may exercise for those purposes under any
other enactment, a local authority may take such of the following steps as they
consider will, in relation to their area, promote the prevention of crime of the welfare of
victims of crime....providing apparatus for recording visual images of events occurring
on any land in their area'.
In areas where racial harassment has been occurring, as part of a crime prevention or
victim support programme, local authority can install CCTV/video cameras to deter
harassers.
Legislation enforceable by the Police & CPS
 The Crime & Disorder Act 1998
Under this Act, the Police have a duty to reduce crime (including racist crime) in its
area. They also have the remit to enforce anti-social behaviour orders if breached. A
breach of an anti-social behaviour order would constitute a criminal offence.
This Act more significantly creates specific racially-aggravated offences ( section 2833) and increased penalties based on the existing:
 Protection From Harassment Act 1997
The Act deals with persistent behaviour targeted against a particular individual.
Powers under this Act make it possible for the police and victims to take action at an
earlier stage than previously. The offences may be committed anywhere, they are all
arrestable and there is no requirement to prove a specific intent. Courts have the
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power to control offenders’ behaviour after a conviction, by means of a restraining
order.
S.2 creates a new offence of harassment. Repeat incidents are taken into account,
through the rule of ‘course of conduct’.
S.3 Provides civil remedy for harassment, consisting of ‘tort’ and a power for courts to
issue an injunction. Breaching of an injunction or restraining order (S.5) will be a
criminal offence.
S.4 Creates an offence of putting people in fear of violence. The course of conduct
needs to be proved, that the victims fears that violence will be perpetrated on at least
two occasions.
 Public Order Act 1986
Offences under this Act are enforceable by the Police through the Crown Prosecution
Service.
An offence is committed under Section 5 of this act if a person:
a) uses threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour,
or
b) displays any writing, sign or other visible notice which is threatening, abusive or
insulting'
within the hearing or sight of a person likely to feel harassed, alarmed or distressed as
a result. These are arrestable offences and prosecutions are generally instituted by
the CPS.
A further offence under this Act is that of incitement to racial hatred. Prosecutions for
this offence can only be brought with the consent of the Attorney General.
 Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994
S.154 of this Act amends The Public Order Act 1986, to create a new offence of
intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress. The act also takes into
consideration harassment which is racially motivated.

Criminal Damage Act 1971
The Act covers destroying or damaging property belonging to someone else. For
example marks and stains caused by substances being put through letter boxes or
thrown at doors and windows and the spraying of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti. (But
the emotional impact this cause on victims may be extremely severe and this is not
covered).
A court can convict for the basic offence even if the racial element is not proved.
Courts treat the racial element of an offence as an aggravating factor, that is, a factor
that increases the seriousness of the offence. Most important of all, there is a
requirement that courts should state that the offence was racially motivated.
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 Criminal Compensation Act 1973
This Act enables a claim for compensation to be added to criminal proceedings.
 Offences Against The Person
There are a variety of these offences such as causing grievous bodily harm and actual
bodily harm. (The Police should be consulted after the agreement of the client, if such
offences have been committed)
Civil Action
Various injunctions can be sought against identified perpetrators in order to stop
further acts of harassment. In some cases it may be possible for the Local Authority to
initiate an injunction in accordance with Section 222 of the Local Government Act
1972. An injunction generally carries a penal notice, which means that a breach of the
injunction can result in imprisonment for contempt. In most cases of civil action it is
advisable for clients to discuss the matter with a Law Centre or their solicitor.
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Racial Harassment Reporting Centres in Hounslow - Appendix 2
Afro Caribbean Association
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 3226
Arab Group in Hounslow
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 3226/
direct 020 8569 6858
[Tel and Fax]
Cranford Community Education
Cranford Community College
Cranford High Street
Cranford TW5 9PD
020 8897 6608
Gurdwara
Alice Way
Hounslow
020 8572 6798
Awaaz Youth Project
Hounslow Youth Centre
Kingsley Road
Hounslow
020 8577 5387
Hounslow Asian and African Youth
Association
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 3226
Bangladesh Welfare Association
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 2694
Nepalese Group
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 3226
Brentford Regeneration Partnership
191 High Street
Brentford
020 8400 8500
Pakistan Welfare Association
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 3226
Citizens Advice Bureau
[Chiswick]
Town Hall
Chiswick
020 8994 4846
Voluntary Action Centre
School Road
Hounslow
020 8577 3226
Hounslow Racial Equality Council
Treaty Centre
Hounslow
020 8583 2525
out of hours service :
07787 554815/23
West Thames College
London Road
Isleworth
020 8326 2078
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RACIAL INCIDENT MONITORING FORM
1 Ref. No.
6
Agency/ Person reporting:
Date :
2 VICTIMS DETAILS:
7
Surname:…………………………………
First name:……………………………….
Address…………………………………..
…………………………………………….
…………………………………………….
Post Code………………………………..
No. of Victims Involved
Principal Victim only
Other members of Household
Visitors
Incident Type:
Physical Assault
Verbal Abuse
Written/Printed Abuse
Damage to property/home
Threats / Assault
Racial Bullying
Grafitti










Other, Please specify ………………..
3 Date of Incident
Location of Incident
Home

Street / Neighbourhood

Shops

Leisure facilities

Schools

Other, Please specify ……………………
……………………………………………..
……………………………………………..
8
4 Districts
9
Chiswick
Brentford
Hounslow & Isleworth
Heston & Cranford
Feltham & Bedfont
Feltham & Hanworth
Alleged Perpetrator( if known) :
……………………………………….
Address: ……………………………..
…………………………………………
Ethnicity…….……………………….
( Refer to Ethnicity Monitoring Sheet
for guidance)
Age
Gender : Male 
Action taken by Officer
1 Consent of victim obtained






Yes  No  (Monitoring
purposes only)
2
3
5 Repeat Incident
, Female 
yes / no
Referred to other agency
yes / no
Please State: ……………………………..
4
……………………………………………..
5
6
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Signature of Officer: …………………………….. Agency: …………………………………..
FURTHER DETAILS MAY BE WRITTEN ON THIS SHEET
Interviewing Officers should elaborate on this sheet the nature, date, frequency and
location of the incident, referral to or involvement of other agencies, consent of victim and
advice and support provided by interviewer.
Signed: …………………………………………………. Date: ………………………………….
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EQUALITIES MONITORING ( Victim only)
Male

1.
GENDER:
Female
2.
What is your ethnicity group?
Ref No :

Chose one section from (a) to (e) then tick the appropriate box to indicate your
cultural background
(a) White
(d) Black or Black British




British
Irish
Albanian/Kosovan
Any other White background
Please write in below





(b) Mixed
(e) Chinese or other ethnic group




White and Black Caribbean
White and African Caribbean
White and Asian
Any other mixed background
Please write in below



(c) Asian or Asian British
(f) Any other





Please write in below:
Caribbean
Nigerian
Ethiopian
Somalian
Other Black African
Please write in below
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Afghan
Any other Asian background
Please write in below
3.
4.
5.
Please write in below
What is your religion?
 None

Christian (including Church of
England, Catholic, Protestant and
all other Christian denominations
AGE:
Disability:
0-12
Yes
12-16
Chinese
Arab
Any other
Please write in below
16-25




Buddhist
Hindu
Muslim


Jewish
Any other religion
Please write in below:
Sikh
26-30
 / No 
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31-40
41-60
61+
Reference:
Racial Harassment Questionnaire
Who did you first report the harassment to?
Did the harassment stop after you reported
it?
Third Party Reporting Centre
Yes
London Borough of Hounslow
Department
No
Other (please give details)
Were you told of any action taken on your
case?
Yes
How soon were you contacted after
reporting the incident?
No
Same Day
Were you contacted regularly to check on
your situation?
Next Day
Yes
One Week
No
Other (please give details)
Has the harassment stopped now?
Yes
Was the person who dealt with your
problem sympathetic?
No
Not Sure
Yes
Do you think you were dealt with fairly?
No
Yes
How did you feel about the advice
given to you?
No
Happy
Not Sure
Unhappy
Were you given a contact phone
number to deal with emergencies?
Is there anything else you would like to
say?
Yes
No
Not Sure
Was any action taken to stop the
harassment?
Yes
Thank you
No
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