Homophobic and Transgender hate crime from 2015 to 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.028730

I note you seek access to the following information:

* NEW REQUEST *
I would like to accept the advice given to narrow down my request and receive offences flagged as:
· homophobic or transgender hate crime
· broken down by Borough, Ward and year
· data broken down to major offence category, outcome and whether the victim was referred to victim support services.

*PREVIOUS REQUEST*
Please could you provide the following data:
• The number of homophobic and transgender hate flagged offences in the MPS area per London borough and per ward within those boroughs every year since 1st Jan 2015

Please specify (per borough and per ward):
• whether it is a homophobic or transgender hate crime
• What type of crime it was: (assault, harassment, criminal damage, sexual offence etc.)
• number of charges
• number of convictions
• number of victims that were referred to victim support services such as counselling

I realise MPS has published data on homophobic and transgender hate flagged offences across the MPS, but this does not specify, ward, borough, type of crime in which homophobic or transgender hate was flagged, number of convictions, or number of victims referred

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section - 40(2) - Personal Information.

Reason for decision

Section 40(2)&(3) - Personal Information - provides that any information to which a request for information relates, is exempt information if the first condition of Section 40(3A)(a) is satisfied. The first condition of Section 40(3A)(a) states that personal information is exempt if its disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles. If the disclosure of the requested personal data would not contravene the data protection principles, the disclosure must also not contravene Sections 3A(b) and 3B of the Act.

There are six principles that are set out in Article 5(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that dictate when the processing of personal data is lawful. The first principle requires that any processing of personal data must be lawful, fair and transparent. Under Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:

a. There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
b. The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
c. The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.

Having considered the data showing for the data broken down to ward level, I have found, having considered the legitimate interest test, that:
a. The disclosure of this information in the format you have requested would not satisfy an identifiable legitimate interest. I believe that the data provided here satisfies the public interest.
b. As there is no legitimate interest identified at point a I do not find there is a need for disclosure.
c. Furthermore, release of the information in the format you have requested would be likely to lead to identification and unwanted and unsolicited intrusion.

The provision to refuse access to information under Section 40(2)(a)(b) and (3A)(a) of the Act is both absolute and class based. When this exemption is claimed, it is accepted that harm would result from disclosure. There is accordingly no requirement to demonstrate what that harm may be in refusing access to information.

Disclosure

Please see attached spreadsheet which shows the remaining data.