Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of hate crime around places of worship.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.

In 2025/26, up to £50.9 million is available to protect faith communities and places of worship, including £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, and £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools.

As part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding religious freedom and community safety, we are also introducing a new measure within the Crime and Policing Bill that strengthens police powers around all places of worship.

Further to their existing powers, this measure will enable the police to place conditions on protests near places of worship, preventing disruptive tactics and ensuring worshippers can practise their faith peacefully.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department uses for allocating protective security funds to different religious groups under the places of worship protective security fund; and whether the number of reported religiously motivated hate crimes is a factor in that decision-making process.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

Funding allocations for the Home Office's protective security schemes for faith communities are informed by threat and risk. We draw on a range of information, such as data on religiously motivated hate crime and assessments from policing and intelligence partners on wider security threats, to ensure that funding allocations remain proportionate and responsive to the needs of different communities.

Funding allocations have previously been increased in response to specific incidents and emerging threats, and the Home Office continuously keeps these under review to ensure that support is directed where it is most needed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of hate crime incidences recorded in (a) the Barking constituency and (b) London in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes official statistics on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.

Data for the Metropolitan and City of London Police forces, for the year ending March 2024, can be found in Open Data Tables here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help keep (a) mosques and (b) muslim faith schools secure.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.

The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. Protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. Up to £29.4 million per year is being made available for this work from 2024/25 to 2027/28.

Work is also underway to develop a new Faith Security Training scheme to raise awareness amongst faith communities of how to improve their safety and security, and to help them prepare to mitigate any threats they may face. We are in the process of competitively tendering for a supplier to deliver this scheme and further details will be shared once the procurement process is complete.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of protective security schemes for religious places of worship.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.

The Home Office continuously reviews the effectiveness and proportionality of its protective security schemes for faith communities through evaluating information provided by policing and intelligence partners on threat and risk, monitoring data on uptake of the schemes, and reviewing feedback from faith communities and other stakeholders.

Furthermore, protective security measures are provided to places of worship and other faith community sites following a thorough risk assessment process that takes into account the security requirements of individual sites and determines the most effective measures to implement. Regular reviews of these requirements are then undertaken for sites that receive ongoing security.

Found: Clifton-Brown (Conservative; North Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan

Found: Clifton-Brown (Conservative; North Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan

Found: Clifton-Brown (Conservative; North Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan

Found: Q27 Nesil Caliskan: That is why I am asking the question.

Found: Clifton-Brown (Conservative; North Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan

Found: Q34 Nesil Caliskan: I thank the panel members for your time.