Protective Security for Mosques Scheme
Apply for security to protect mosques and associated Muslim community centres.
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme is provided free of charge by the Home Office to protect mosques and associated Muslim community centres.
To apply for protective security measures for your mosque or associated Muslim faith community centre, complete the online application form.
Who can apply
You can apply to the scheme if you are:
- a mosque that is currently in operation
- an associated Muslim community centre where regular worship takes place
You will also need to be a registered charity (or exempt from registering as a charity).
Home Office schemes that offer protective security for other faith communities.
You should apply if:
- you have experienced hate crime at your mosque or community centre
- you feel that your mosque or community centre is vulnerable to hate crime
- there has been hate crime in your local area towards members of your community
What the scheme covers
You can apply for one or both of these security measures:
- physical security measures, such as CCTV, intruder alarms, secure fencing and gates
- security personnel services (guarding), providing static or roaming security staff at your location
If your application is successful, your site will be surveyed to assess your security needs and what measures are appropriate. Any measures suggested in the survey will need Home Office approval.
All security measures are provided for free by the Home Office. For some physical security measures, this includes any maintenance costs for one year from the installation date.
How to apply
You should only complete one application form for each mosque or community centre.
If your mosque and community centre are located on the same site, you only need to complete one application form.
You will need to provide details about your site including:
- the name and address of your mosque or community centre (include any other names your site is known by)
- the registered charity number of your organisation or a letter confirming your organisation’s exemption from registering as a charity, for example if you are registered as a community interest company (CIC)
- the contact details of a responsible person who will be your site’s point of contact
- a summary of any security concerns or hate crime experienced at your mosque or community centre, and the impact these have on the people who use it
You must provide accurate information on your form.
You can save your application form and come back to it later.
Application guidance
To help with the assessment of your application, you should:
- clearly explain why your place of worship and its community are at risk of hate crime, for example mention specific incidents or threats received by your site or people using the site
- provide detailed evidence of any hate crime incidents, for example photos, police reports and dates of incidents
- describe how these incidents have affected your community, for example fear or reduced attendance
Although we ask for information about any hate crime experienced by your mosque or Muslim community centre, you do not need to have experienced hate crime to apply.
Checks on your application
We check all applications to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme to make sure organisations meet the standards required for the scheme. This is known as due diligence.
If your application is successful, we will carry out ongoing checks to make sure your organisation continues to meet these standards. You can read the standards in the protective security for faith communities code of conduct.
When we have completed our checks, we will tell you the outcome of your application and explain the next steps.
Things to consider
If you install physical security measures yourself, you will not be reimbursed. All approved security measures must be installed by the Home Office approved supplier (or their chosen sub-contractors).
You may need planning permission or other official approvals, for example, for listed buildings. Planning restrictions and permissions are not managed by the scheme. Planning permission is the responsibility of the applicant and you will need to check if further permissions are needed for the work to be carried out.
If your application is successful
If your application is successful and your security measures have been installed, you can apply to the scheme again 12 months after the final measure was installed.
You can use the same application form. In your application, you must:
- provide evidence of any hate crime your site has experienced since the security measures were installed
- explain any security risks or vulnerabilities that still remain at your site
This will help us assess whether further security measures are needed.
Data protection
To find out more about how we process and protect your information, and your rights in relation to this, see the privacy information notice.
Updates to this page
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Updated information about the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
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Additional information has been added to the guidance including examples of successful and unsuccessful applications.
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First published.