uk/local/ealing/">Ealing Council has approved a three-year hate crime strategy focused on improving reporting and victim support, after its voluntary public consultation previously highlighted residents’ concerns about whether authorities would act on reports of hate crime.
The council’s Cabinet adopted the Ealing Hate Crime Strategy 2026–2029 at a meeting on 7 October, alongside an action plan for 2027–2028. The strategy aims to prevent hate crime, increase confidence in reporting, support victims and witnesses, and strengthen cooperation between the council, police and community organisations. It comes as a response to the persistence of the under-reporting of hate-crime offences, especially among those facing additional barriers such as language, disabilities or previous negative experiences of discrimination.
Metropolitan Police figures published in the strategy show that 846 hate crime offences were recorded in Ealing between June 2025 and May 2026, an 11% increase from 762 in the previous 12 months. Across the two-year period from June 2024 to May 2026, police recorded 1,608 offences.
Racist and religious hate crime accounted for 1,403 recorded offences, or 87.3% of the 1,608 hate crime offences recorded in Ealing between June 2024 and May 2026, according to figures reported from the council’s analysis. Recorded racist offences rose from 603 in the 12 months to May 2025 to 643 in the following year. Homophobic hate crime offences also increased, from 85 to 116 over the same periods, making up the second largest category for offences. Despite these increases, Ealing continues to experience a lower hate-crime rate than the London average.
However, the council’s consultation suggests that police figures may not capture the full extent of residents’ experiences. The consultation, which ran from October to December 2025, received 576 responses. Of those who participated, 43% said they had personally experienced hate crime and 49% said they knew someone who had. The responses highlighted low levels of trust in formal systems, citing a lack of confidence in action being taken, fears of not being believed and anxieties of escalation. Among respondents who said they had experienced hate crime, 42% reported experiencing more than three incidents. Verbal abuse was reported by 87%, while 19% reported physical assault.
The consultation also outlined challenges such as a lack of a national funding stream for local hate crime work which had led to an overreliance on community safety budgets and organisations from the voluntary community sector (VCS), which affected the consistency of support.
To address these concerns, the new strategy proposes strengthening trusted reporting routes and raising awareness through schools and community organisations with the objective of improving support for victims and witnesses.
Ealing’s Cabinet has authorised an officer to approve annual updates to the action plan, allowing it to respond to changing evidence and community priorities as it is rolled out. The strategy document outlines that it builds upon Ealing’s strong sense of diversity, also seeking to strengthen positive relationships and a sense of belonging which underline resident’s experiences of the borough.
The strategy will be formally launched at an event titled ‘Building an Inclusive Ealing: Hate Crime Strategy launch’ on October 13, which takes place during National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2026. The event will bring together residents and organisations for discussions on tackling hate crime and supporting those affected, including a keynote adress ‘Building Trust and Increasing Reporting: The Importance of Trusted Community Pathways’.
The challenge for the council will now be demonstrating that these measures translate into greater confidence among residents, and more effective support for those affected by hate crime.
