asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the guidance currently given to the police on the investigation of alleged homophobic offences under the Public Order Act 1986 is satisfactory. [HL3475]

Advice to police officers in combating hate crime is contained within the ACPO hate-crime manual, which was last published in 2005.

The Public Order Act 1986 does not contain specific homophobic aggravated offences although the Crime and Disorder Act 1999 does provide specific offences relating to some public order offences which are racially or religiously aggravated.

In October 2006 the then Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith launched the Race for Justice programme, which is led by the current Attorney-General, Baroness Scotland. This programme will improve the way we investigate and prosecute hate crime across the criminal justice system. Part of the activity is the revision of the Association of Chief Police Officers hate-crime manual, which is being led by the Association of Chief Police Officers hate-crime portfolio holder, Assistant Chief Constable Harris from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The revised guidance is due to be published towards the end of this financial year.