Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Khan of Burnley on 13 March (HL Deb col 821), how they will allocate the remaining £350,000 of the £1 million committed to programmes to combat hatred against Muslims, following the allocation of £650,000 to the British Muslim Trust; and what plans they have to allocate these remaining funds to Muslim communities.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As per the Combatting Hate Against Muslims fund: prospectus - GOV.UK, the allocated funding for the Combatting Hate Against Muslims fund was £650,000 for financial year 2025/26.

The government will announce other measures to support community cohesion, including for Muslim communities, in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications were shortlisted and interviewed for the Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund; what was the total scores for each application; and how many applications were presented to the Minster for Faith, Communities and Resettlement, Lord Khan of Burnley, to consider.

Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley

The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims fund received 34 applications between 02 April and 18 May. Three applicants were shortlisted and interviewed, including the British Muslim Trust, and formal advice was presented to ministers for final decision following assessment and scoring. Applications were assessed against 16 criteria which can be found on the fund’s prospectus - Combatting Hate Against Muslims fund: prospectus - GOV.UK. The British Muslim Trust was named as the preferred bidder on 21^st July 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total score awarded to the application of the British Muslim Trust to the Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund.

Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley

The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims fund received 34 applications between 02 April and 18 May. Three applicants were shortlisted and interviewed, including the British Muslim Trust, and formal advice was presented to ministers for final decision following assessment and scoring. Applications were assessed against 16 criteria which can be found on the fund’s prospectus - Combatting Hate Against Muslims fund: prospectus - GOV.UK. The British Muslim Trust was named as the preferred bidder on 21^st July 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications for funding were received for the Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund by 18 May.

Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley

The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims fund received 34 applications between 02 April and 18 May. Three applicants were shortlisted and interviewed, including the British Muslim Trust, and formal advice was presented to ministers for final decision following assessment and scoring. Applications were assessed against 16 criteria which can be found on the fund’s prospectus - Combatting Hate Against Muslims fund: prospectus - GOV.UK. The British Muslim Trust was named as the preferred bidder on 21^st July 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the marches in London led by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in September, what assessment they have made of the security concerns and fears experienced by diverse communities, and what specific support and reassurance they are providing to those impacted.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to gather and to demonstrate their views, provided that they do so within the law. However, there is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by hatred and discrimination, and we support the police in taking strong action against those crimes.

The police have a range of powers to deal with any behaviour that causes harassment, alarm or distress to others. They also have the power to impose conditions on protests where they reasonably believe the protest may result in serious disorder, serious damage to property, serious disruption to the life of the community, or where the purpose of the protest is to intimidate others.

The government continues to work closely with police and community partners to strengthen protections for communities and challenge hatred. This includes providing up to £50.9 million of funding this year to protect faith communities and safeguard places of worship. We also work with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.

This government is absolutely committed to protecting our communities and making our streets safer, and we refuse to allow the intolerance of a few to impact the lives of our diverse communities.