Council praised for work tackling disability hate crime after Fiona Pilkington case

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has praised Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council for the steps it has taken following the death of Fiona Pilkington and her severely disabled daughter seven years ago.

Following an inquest that found failings by various responsible authorities, Hinckley and Bosworth entered into a formal agreement with the EHRC under s. 23 of the Equality Act 2006.

This led to an overhaul of the borough council’s policies and procedures with a view to eliminating disability related harassment and promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people.

The authority agreed as part of this to the appointment of an independent auditor with expertise in hate crime, who carried out an assessment of what Hinckley and Bosworth needed to do to improve community safety.

An action plan was subsequently drawn up and one of the key initiatives was to create a ‘safer town centre’ scheme. “This provides places where people in vulnerable situations can turn if they are being victimised or harassed,” the Commission said.

The council is also looking to promote better understanding and awareness of hate crime in the community.

Further work is meanwhile being undertaken with partners such as Leicestershire Police and Leicestershire County Council.

The s23 agreement between the EHRC and Hinckley & Bosworth related to alleged breaches of the disability equality duty, s49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 because the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and Francecca Hardwick took place before implementation of the combined PSED.

“Because the duration of the agreement spanned implementation of the PSED the council have ensured its focus and outcomes have aligned with the aims of the PSED general duty, particularly due regard to the need to foster good relations,” the EHRC said.

Mark Hammond, the Commission’s chief executive, said: “We have been monitoring progress at Hinckley and Bosworth over the past three years and are pleased to see that the local authority now has much stronger systems in place to pick up problems.

“The work that has taken place means that the safety net is much more robust and this is a model for other local authorities to follow.”

Hammond added: "The Commission promotes and enforces the laws that protect everybody's right to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect, but so often we hear of cases where that right has not extended to disabled people.

“The tragic case of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter was a wake-up call for responsible authorities across the country.”

Steve Atkinson, Hinckley & Bosworth’s chief executive, said: “The council has found the relationship with the Commission to be constructive and I welcome the acknowledgement from them that our joint work has produced a model for other authorities for the future, thus enabling much stronger protection for disabled people from hate crime.”