Protective Security for Mosques Scheme
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used to determine the allocation of funding under the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme; what weight is given to threat, risk and vulnerability assessments; and whether she plans to publish guidance setting out those criteria.
Answered by Home Office
The Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely and to ensuring that faith communities are safe at their places of worship.
Funding for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme is considered at two levels. The overall budget is informed by the Government’s continuing assessment of the threat to mosques and Muslim communities, drawing on the wider national security and hate-crime picture, including assessments from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and advice from relevant policing, security and government partners. These assessments are kept under continual review, enabling the Government to respond to changes in the threat picture and emerging incidents. Detailed threat assessments are not published for national security and operational reasons.
At individual-site level, where an application progresses, allocation of measures is considered after a site survey is undertaken to assess the site’s particular threat and vulnerability profile and determine the most appropriate and effective protective security measures. Security experts, including designing-out-crime officers, contribute to this process.
The detailed assessment methodology is not published. This information is security and commercially sensitive, and the Home Office does not publish information where doing so could compromise the integrity or effective delivery of the scheme, or the contractual arrangements supporting its delivery.
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