The number of complaints of discrimination made to councils and the police increased sharply in 2021, partly as a result of people disputing the coronavirus restrictions.
A study by rights agency Art.1 found that reports to councils rose by 26%, while police handled 7% more complaints than in 2020.
Around three in 10 complaints handled by councils concerned ‘non-statutory’ forms of discrimination, including people contesting the validity of coronavirus entry passes or the requirement to wear face masks.
Police dealt predominantly with verbal abuse based on people’s ethnic origin or sexuality, which made up 62% of the 6,580 complaints they received.
The human rights arbitration body CRM and the national ombudsman also reported an increase in their caseload, with the CRM receiving 5,286 reports and enquiries about equality, nearly double the number in 2020. The number of requests for adjudication was up by 16%.
Only the online internet discrimination hotline MiND reported a decline in cases, with just 339 reports in 2021, half as many as the year before.
