The latest Home Office figures for England and Wales 2024/25 shows that recorded disability hate crimes fell by 8% from 11,131 in 2023/24 to 10,224. Whilst this looks like good news given that this is the second-year stats have revealed a decline from a peak of 13,637 offences in 2022/23; a closer look at the drop reveals the decline is likely due to changes in the recordings of these crimes. For example, public order offenses are reportedly down by 452 and malicious communications offences by 399; the latter is linked to a change in police recording rules rather than a confirmed fall in hostility towards disabled people.

Another consideration is the Metropolitan Police Service’s move to a new reporting system. The decline in disability hate crimes (and other strands) for a second year corresponds with the transition to a new IT system which under the old system added the “hate crime” identifier to all offences committed to a single incident crime report.  Under the new “CONNECT” system, one crime is recorded per victim.

The 2025 stats include the following disclaimer by the Home Office:

“Due to the change in the MPS crime recording system, MPS data for the year ending March 2025 are not comparable with data supplied in previous years and have been excluded from the trend analysis in this bulletin.”

The positive is that in the long term, the new CONNECT system will improve the accuracy of hate crime reporting.  

Still Severely Unreported  

Thanks to the support of the Motability Foundation, United Response co-produced the report Journey to Safety earlier this year. The research suggested disability hate crimes remain severely underreported with only 29.9% of disabled people reporting incidents. Key reasons for this are a lack of disability awareness among authorities, insufficient support, inaccessible reporting systems and long delays in follow up.

The reality is that if disabled people feel unable to report crimes or if their experiences aren’t recognised, the harm continues unchecked. Through our Journey to Safety project disabled people have shared their lived experiences:

One person told us, “It was months of comments, messages, and being ignored when I asked for help.”

Another said, “I didn’t even know it was a hate crime. I thought it was just something I had to put up with.”

These accounts show that improving safety means more than changing laws. It means building trust, making systems accessible, and helping people understand their rights.

Justice Outcomes Remain Poor

The Home Office stats also reveal further failings in that just 2% of the reported crimes resulted in a conviction. Disability hate crimes remain less likely to result in a charge or summons than other hate crime strands (race, religion, sexual orientation), showing persistent gaps in the judicial system. Over half of the people consulted on the Journey to Safety project told us that authorities and agencies lacked the disability awareness needed to support reporting, a key barrier. Other reasons for low reporting include fear of not being believed or delays and the impact of the reporting process and loss of confidence.

Dr Mark Brookes, MBE, Advocacy Lead for Dimensions and Disability Rights campaigner said:

“Most people don’t know that a hate crime has been done against them because they think it’s the norm.

“People tell us that they don’t want to approach the police because of stories they’ve heard about the police not believing them. We need to raise awareness of what a hate crime is, whether it’s on the streets or on public transport. We know it mainly happens at a bus stop or on the bus. There are not that many occasions that people actually report it.”

What does all of this mean?

The drop in recorded offences might suggest progress, but the commentary from people who have experienced disability hate and hostility reveal very little improvement. Incidents continue in homes, on the streets and especially whilst waiting for or on public transport. Until every disabled person feels safe in their community, the real work isn’t done. Partnership between disabled people, the government, and the transport sector is vital. United Response is committed to ensuring that this happens but despite over a decade of legislation aimed at promoting inclusion and accessibility on public transport is still pone of the most common environments where hate crime occurs and it is least likely to be reported or addressed.

Leading disability hate crime researcher, Dr David Wilkin’s commented:

“Safety remains a concern. Hate crimes against disabled people have still increased by 9% since 2020, convictions rates are still only around 2%. Fear in a divided society continues to be an issue. We cannot just expect these feelings to go away without acting. Hate crime charters and new legislation, as recommended by the Law Commission) is sorely needed.”

At United Response, we believe that a cross-industry charter on preventing disability hate crime will have a big impact.

This charter should draw clear inspiration from the Scottish Hate Crime Charter in its scope and ambition. It should set minimum expectations for Zero-tolerance messaging, staff training, victim support and annual data collection and publication.

Sign our charter by clicking HERE

If you’ve experienced or witnessed a disability hate crime, you can report it to the police by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency, or online via True Vision at www.report-it.org.uk. United Response also offers support. Sign our Charter to help make transport safer for everyone.