4. Ms Brownlee asked the Minister of Justice what action her Department is taking to address an increase in attacks on places of worship. (AQO 740/22-27)

I recognise very much the harm that attacks on places of worship can have on members and the wider community. I condemn the recent attacks at the Bangladesh Islamic Centre in Newtownards, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God at Templemore Street in east Belfast and the Church of the Holy Name at Greenisland and the recent threats to the Belfast Islamic Centre.

My Department works collaboratively with the policing and community safety partnerships (PCSPs) in addressing crime and fear of crime. PCSPs have a legislative duty to address crime, fear of crime and antisocial behaviour by working collaboratively and engaging with their local community. Specific crime prevention advice is also available from the PSNI. During the recent disorder, the Home Office extended its protection scheme for mosques in the UK, which are vulnerable to hate crime, to provide emergency support. The Home Office also supports the Community Security Trust to provide protection for synagogues across the UK. Protection schemes for places of worship in England and Wales are based solely on vulnerability to hate crime. However, to date, there has been insufficient evidence to show that such a scheme is needed in Northern Ireland. We will, of course, keep that under review.

I thank the Minister for her answer. She touched on the devastating fire that happened recently in Greenisland. What preventative measures are being implemented to educate young people on the dangers and legal consequences of arson?

I am not directly involved in that. However, it is important to reference the wider issue. We should be encouraged, I suppose, that only about 4% of attacks on what we would call "significant key buildings" — places of worship, Orange halls and GAA clubs — have been identified as being driven by a hate motive. In the majority of cases, they are driven by antisocial behaviour and criminal damage motivations. OK, that is no comfort, if your building is absolutely destroyed in those circumstances, but it shows that deliberate attacks on buildings because they are places of worship are a relatively small part of the overall picture.

It is also important to note that, as part of another piece of work that the Department is doing, we are looking at how antisocial behaviour orders can be used. Also, the Youth Justice Agency was much praised in the recent Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) report for the work that it has been doing to deter youth offending. Therefore, where young people are involved in antisocial behaviour, there are opportunities, particularly through PCSPs and community engagement, to get the engagement of the PSNI and the Youth Justice Agency before people engage in serious offending. Undoubtedly, however, it is devastating for a congregation to see its church razed to the ground.

Earlier today, Minister, you said that you would not be proceeding with stand-alone hate crime legislation. That comes after a summer of some of the most shocking race hate that the region has seen. I think that many people in ethnic minority communities and religious minorities will feel let down. How can you say that there is not enough time to proceed with a stand-alone hate crime Bill when, today and tomorrow, we will spend hours debating non-binding Executive party motions?

The first thing to say is that the order of business is not agreed by me; it is agreed by the Business Committee, and all parties have Members on the Business Committee. If people are annoyed about the content of the Order Paper, that is for them to take up with the member of the Business Committee who represents them. However, with respect to the time that I have available to me, as I have said, I am about to introduce an extensive piece of legislation. That is the first one. It has already been prepared. The policy development work has been done, and it is ready to go.

When I came back into office, I realised in February that it would not be possible. It would have been the fourth of a series of five Bills. I realised that that would put it into the next mandate, which I did not want to happen. Before what happened over the summer occurred, before those considerations, I expedited the most impactful parts of that legislation. I have engaged with the sector: the BAME community, the Islamic community, the LGBTQI community and many others who will be impacted by it. Most of them recognise that the most impactful pieces of Judge Marrinan's report are those that create the aggravator and allow additional categories of protected characteristics to be added to the aggravator and those that will provide for special measures in court. We will proceed with the remainder of Judge Marrinan's report in the Department through policy development, because some of it will require cross-departmental working and full Executive buy-in. I wanted to get the most impactful part of it through in this mandate, because I completely agree with the Member that the behaviours that we have seen on the streets of Belfast and other towns and cities across the UK and these islands are not acceptable. It is not who we are or aspire to be. I want to be sure that there is every opportunity through the courts to make sure that people face the consequences of their actions.

Any attacks on places of worship need to be condemned. We have seen a rise in attacks on mosques and in Islamophobia to really nasty levels. Minister, what is your assessment of the fact that the PSNI thinks that loyalist paramilitaries have a role to play in stopping racist violence or that they are not involved in racist attacks themselves? That is certainly contrary to the experience of many people across our communities, unfortunately.

Mel Jones stated in her public comments that she believed that paramilitaries were involved in some of that violence. She has been clear about that. Irrespective of whether paramilitaries are involved, however, the behaviour is not acceptable. It is important that we all speak with one voice. It is hugely frustrating to see people who come here to serve the community by working in our public services or in private industry to grow our economy or who come here in desperation to seek protection from harm at home being terrorised in their homes and communities instead of being welcomed, respected and treated with dignity. It is completely unacceptable. If my Department can do things in addition to the actions that we already take to provide support, we will continue to explore those with the sectors that best represent those voices and with my Executive colleagues to make sure that it is a joined-up approach.

Minister, we saw some appalling scenes across Northern Ireland this summer, with attacks on not only churches and property but individuals. What action is being done by your Department and what conversations have you had to protect minority communities across Northern Ireland?

As I said, I am committed to playing my part in delivering a safer community for everyone, including victims of race hate crime and in partnership with others in government and beyond. DOJ, the PSNI, the Housing Executive and the Department for Communities continue to jointly fund the hate incident practical action scheme. That scheme allows, in particular circumstances, personal and home protection measures if a person's home has been damaged or if they have been a victim of an incident or crime at home because of their race, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, political opinion or religious belief. In addition to legislative protections for victims, direct support for hate crime victims is provided through the Hate Crime Advocacy Service, which is jointly funded by the PSNI and DOJ. It supports victims of hate crime through the criminal justice process and signposts them to the relevant support services and can assist with third-party reporting.

PSNI and crime prevention officers can also provide crime prevention advice. I encourage people who have been affected to keep in contact with the PSNI and ensure that all incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour are reported, no matter how insignificant they may seem at the time. Policing and community safety partnerships also work to identify issues of concern in the local area and to prepare plans to deliver practical solutions.

The recently launched HELPinHAND app is designed to help victims of race hate crime and BAME communities understand the processes of reporting hate crime to the police while providing useful information and details of support. The app is initially available in five different languages.

Building relationships in our community and more cohesive communities, however, is what will really make a difference. A whole-Executive approach is required if we are to tackle this, through the development of a strategies such as the racial equality strategy, the refugee integration strategy and all of the other anti-bullying and hate crime guidance in the curriculum by DE. Working with the Department for the Economy's stakeholders and PCSPs to support victims is hugely important. It is not just a matter for the Department of Justice; it has to be a matter for all of us in our society.

We now move to topical questions to the Minister of Justice.