Vertical Markets

Funds for places of worship

by Mark Rowe

A £5m fund will provide security training for places of worship across England and Wales, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons yesterday. He said: “This funding will support the physical security measures provided by the places of worship fund. It will share best practice and help faith organisations to understand how best to protect their worshippers.​”

As featured in the May 2019 print issue of Professional Security magazine, the fund was announced after the Christchurch terror attack; when the Home Office also increased the places of worship protective security fund to £1.6m for 2019-20, double the amount awarded last year. Sajid Javid said: “Expressions of interest are now open for the next round of the fund, which will open in July. Since the scheme launched in 2016, more than £1.5 million has been awarded, with 63 grants to churches, 49 to mosques, five to Hindu temples and 16 to gurdwaras. They have paid for security equipment such as CCTV, security lighting, new locks or fences. Many more places of worship will now benefit after we made it even easier to apply this year, by removing the need to find multiple [three or more] quotes and contractors. A separate £14m grant also provides security for Jewish schools and synagogues against terror attacks.” He described that and other measures as a ‘comprehensive package of support’.

What was actually new and announced by Sajid Javid was a ‘Ramadan package of support for mosques’. He said: “We know that Muslims are anxious for their safety after the atrocity in Christchurch, and that tensions are heightened during religious festivals. So we are supporting Faith Associates to provide security training and advice for the Islamic holy month. Support is being given in 12 workshops around England and Wales, and guidance is being distributed to over 2,000 mosques, community centres and madrassahs.”

Replying for Labour, Diane Abbott said the Opposition welcomed his statement in principle. She said: “As we move towards the European elections, sadly, we may well see a rise in far right activity, which may seek to mirror some of the terrorist attacks that we have seen. That is why we believe that this statement is timely and to be welcomed.”

She said Labour would want to see where the money, particularly the £5m, was going: “My experience is that sometimes those who obtain Government funding are better at putting in applications, rather than necessarily being the organisations in most need … We are not accusing ministers of bad faith, but we are saying that all too often, when it comes to allocating such funding, ​the people who know about it and are skilled at making applications benefit, although they may not necessarily be the most vulnerable and needy communities.”

In reply to that, Sajid Javid said that ‘we have already started the consultation with faith groups, community representatives and others to make sure we are listening to them about the best way to use the £5m’.

For the Scottish Nationalists, Cumbernauld SNP MP Stuart MacDonald raised the recently-published Government White Paper on online harms, but added: “It seems that we are still struggling to come up with a complete and co-ordinated response that addresses how to police online hate. It is a question partly of resourcing, partly of improving co-ordination—both internationally and among the police forces of the United Kingdom—and partly of drawing on expertise. Does the Home Secretary accept that we need more of all those things?”

For what the MPs said in full, visit the Hansard website.

Picture by Mark Rowe; St Paul’s Cathedral from One New Change.

Related News

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing