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"A racial incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person" (Macpherson Report)"

What counts as racism?

The experience of racism can be actual or perceived and can include:

• Verbal abuse, threats, insults, nuisance telephone calls, name calling and every other form of verbal harassment;
• Physical assaults and physical violence which can vary from pushing to serious attacks;
• Attacks against someone's property, for example insulting graffiti, vandalism, breaking windows, theft, damaging cars and even arson.
• Publishing and disseminating materials such as leaflets and newspapers that are likely to incite racial hatred is also a criminal offence.

Frequently racial harassment is a combination of the above. This can occur for instance in neighbour disputes when both verbal insults and property damage occurs, or bullying at school which consists of name-calling and physical abuse.

How to report an incidence of racial harassment?

The Council is receiving and recording ALL complaints of racial harassment that are brought to its attention both inside and outside the High Peak area and not just complaints against the Council.

Racial Harrassment Reporting Form

Why is the Borough Council recording racial harassment incidents?

• The Race Relations Act 1976, as amended by the Race Relations Act 2000, makes it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origin. The amended Act also imposes general duties on many public authorities to promote racial equality and eliminate racial discrimination. As such, when any incident of racial harassment is brought to the attention of High Peak Borough Council it will be recorded, monitored and ....
• with the victim's consent details of serious incidents will be shared with other agencies such as Victim Support and the Police so that support can be offered to the victim and their family and, if appropriate criminal investigations can be undertaken. Similarly, if the incident has implications for other services such as Education or Social Services information of the incident will be passed on to them.

How to complete the Racial Harassment Reporting Form

Some sections of the Form are completed by the victim/complainant and the member of staff who receives the form when it is returned to the council completes the other sections. In particular:

Section A contains the non-personal information relating to the actual incident and the ethnic origin of the victim and offender. This section will be used for basic monitoring of the level of racial incidents in High Peak. This section is completed by the victim/complainant.

Sections B, C & D contain personal information relating to the details of the victim and offender and can provide the means for agencies to respond to individual incidents of racial harassment. These sections are CONFIDENTIAL. Whilst the details of the offender can be recorded without the consent of the accused, the consent of the victim/complainant is required to record and share information and hold personal details on file.

Section B3 is completed by the victim/complainant.

Section B4, 5 & 6 are all completed by the receiving officer.

Section C & D are completed by the victim/complainant. Please note that it would be useful for a telephone number to be provided so that the receiving officer can contact them if the reported incident is serious or important information has been omitted.

As soon as the Racial Harassment Report is complete it is Confidential and the organisation to which it is sent have a duty under the Data Protection Act 1998 to protect the data.

On completion of the form:

1. Print off the form (if downloaded from the web)
2. Make sure that the correct signature is on the form (See Part C)
3. Return the Form by hand or post in a sealed envelope (marked "Private & Confidential") to:

   Sian-Elin Jones
   Policy Manager
   High Peak Borough Council
   Hayfield Road
   Chapel-en-le-Frith
   High Peak
   SK23 OQJ
   (Tel: 0845 129 77 77 / 01298 28400)

What happens next?

The basic information is collated for racial harassment monitoring in the High Peak. Where complaints have been lodged and consent is given to share information, it will be passed to appropriate agencies, for example:

High Peak services	-	Appropriate Service Head
Issues at school	-	shared with Derbyshire County Council
Issues at doctors	-	share information with Primary Care Trust

In most cases, where a victim/complainant has signed the declaration on information sharing, the information will be passed to the Police.

The Form will be retained on confidential files with restricted access. These forms will be retained for six months and then destroyed unless the information forms evidence for a criminal investigation.

A complaint of racial harassment against the Council will be dealt with in accordance with the Council's Complaints Procedure.

Pro-active Support

Whilst the Council can work with other agencies to investigate individual cases, officers will pro-actively refer complainants to Victim Support with the consent of the victim.

High Peak Organisations for reporting Racial Harassment

Any of the following contacts will be able to provide you with further information on dealing with Racial Harassment.

High Peak Borough Council
Sian-Elin Jones (Chinley) covers all council services	0845 129 77 77 sianj@highpeak.gov.uk
Graham Hirst (Buxton) covers Housing Services	0845 129 77 77 (Ext. 4586) GrahamH@hpch.co.uk

Victim Support
Cath Laithwaite (High Peak)	01457 862150
Jacqueline Ferguson-Lee (Derbyshire Dales)	01629 825544 ddvss.derbyshiredale@virgin.net

Police
Andy Torkington (Derbyshire Dales & High Peak)	01298 762 067 Andy.Torkington@Derbyshire.PNN.Police.UK

Social Services
Steve Burton (North Dales & High Peak)	01629 778 401 steven.burton@derbyshire.gov.uk

Education
Sue Anderson (High Peak & Derbyshire Dales)	01298 26121 sue.anderson@derbyshire.gov.uk

Probation Service
Joe Woods	01298 25558 joe.woods@derbyshire.probation.gsx.gov.uk

All High Peak public documents are available in Braille, audio tape and electronic formats. To make a request for documents in any of these formats please contact the High Peak Borough Council Call Centre on 0845 129 77 77 or 01298 28400.