Protective security schemes for places of worship (updated)
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Published 26 July 2016 Last updated 24 November 2023 — See all
updates Contents Overview of the schemes Who can apply What the
schemes cover Submitting an application Application guidance Site
survey Application outcome Data protection Print this page Overview
of the schemes In 2023 and 2024, the Home Office is continuing to
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Published 26 July 2016 Last updated 24 November 2023 — See all updates Contents
Overview of the schemes In 2023 and 2024, the Home Office is continuing to provide protective security measures to places of worship in England and Wales under two schemes:
The schemes provide funding for places of worship and associated faith community centres that are vulnerable to hate crime. These schemes aim to reduce hate crime happening at places of worship so that people can feel safe to attend worship and practise their religion freely. Through these schemes, vulnerable places of worship can apply for physical protective security measures, such as CCTV, secure fencing, and intruder alarms. Applicants to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme are also able to apply for security guarding services. Further information is provided below. The application process for the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme was open from 21 June 2023 until 5 September 2023. The application process for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme is open until 31 December 2023. We cannot consider any applications received after this date. For places of worship that are successful in applying to the schemes, security measures will be provided and installed free of charge. This includes any maintenance costs for one year from the installation date (such as for CCTV or for monitored intruder alarm systems). However, you should be aware that the Home Office cannot fund any additional costs that might result from measures being installed, such as the cost of applying for planning permission or any preparatory work needed (such as ground clearance). We will confirm the number and type of measures that we are able to provide following your site survey and a final review by the Home Office. Esotec Limited is the Home Office’s delivery partner for physical protective security measures and will be the main point of contact for places of worship who are successful in going forward to the site survey stage. The supplier of security guarding services will be announced later in the year. Successful applicants to the Protective Security for Mosques scheme who have applied for guarding services will be informed as soon as possible. Who can apply You should apply to the schemes:
The application must be for a place of worship and/or associated faith community centre located in England and Wales. The types of places of worship that can apply under the schemes include (but are not limited to):
Muslim places of worship and their associated faith community centres will be allocated to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme. All other faiths, except the Jewish community, will be allocated to the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme. A separate funding scheme is available to provide security measures for the Jewish community. We cannot accept applications for the following:
If your place of worship has received funding through the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme in 2021 to 2022 or 2022 to 2023, you may still apply. However, funding for places of worship that have received funding in the last two years will be at the discretion of the Home Office and will only be awarded where there is very strong evidence of an ongoing vulnerability to hate crime. This is to ensure that as many places of worship as possible are able to access funding for protective security measures. If you represent a mosque that has received funding previously, we encourage you to apply for guarding services if you feel that security guarding would benefit your mosque and attending worshippers. Charity status Places of worship and associated faith community centres are normally charitable and required by law to register as charities if their income from all sources is over £5,000 a year. Some churches are currently excepted from registration. If you are lawfully exempt, you will be required as part of your application to include a written confirmation of your exemption and the justification for your exemption. You must upload this written confirmation to the application form on your organisation’s letter headed paper. If you are not registered as a charity and are not exempt, you will need to register with the Charity Commission before applying to the scheme. If you would like advice and support on completing the application to register as a charity, are unsure about whether you need to register, or have any other queries about registering as a charity, please contact, faithoutreach@charitycommission.gov.uk. What the schemes cover The types of physical protective security measures available are listed below, but you do not need to decide which measures you would like to apply for now. If your application is successful, a survey of your place of worship will be carried out. During this site survey, Esotec Limited will discuss with you the most appropriate measures for your particular site, based on recommendations made to them by the police DOCO (Designing Out Crime Officer):
If your application is successful, the schemes will cover the cost of all security equipment (as agreed by Esotec Limited and the Home Office) and installation at your place of worship. However, the schemes cannot be used to fund:
Muslim places of worship and their associated faith community centres are also eligible for security guarding services under the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme. Applicants can decide if they would prefer to apply for physical protective security measures or security guarding services only, or both. A similar site survey will be carried out for successful applicants to decide the most appropriate guarding regime for each location. The supplier of security guarding services will be announced later in the year. Submitting an application In order to submit a valid application, you will need to show that:
You will need to provide evidence that the community at your place of worship is vulnerable to the kind of hate crime that targets people because of their religion and race. Any crime can be classed as a hate crime if the offender has demonstrated, or been motivated by, hostility based on:
These schemes focus on hate crimes motivated by religion and race. Applicants should provide a detailed description of all hate crimes and incidents that your place of worship has experienced. If you feel that your place of worship is vulnerable to hate crime, but has not experienced any hate crime incidents directly, please provide:
Please include details about how these incidents have affected worshippers in your community:
You may also provide supporting evidence with your application form. This could be photographs of damage or graffiti at your place of worship, police crime reports, or local newspaper reports. You can upload a maximum of 10 files of evidence in support of your application. Here are some examples of the types of evidence we are looking for, but there may be other examples you would like to include:
To apply for funding through the Protective Security for Places of Worship scheme, you will need to complete the online application: Protective Security for Places of Worship scheme. To apply for funding through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme, you will need to complete the online application: Protective Security for Mosques scheme. You can only submit one application for your place of worship/associated faith community centre. Duplicate applications will not be considered. If your place of worship and associated faith community centre are on the same site, you should still only submit one application. The form can be saved at any stage. However, you must submit your application before the deadline. The following information is required for the online application form:
It’s important that you provide as much detail as you can about all hate crimes or incidents that have affected your place of worship and the people that worship there. When providing your evidence, consider:
Application guidance Your application is more likely to be successful if you:
Applications in previous years that that were unsuccessful tended to only provide limited evidence and/or did not clarify why their place of worship was vulnerable to hate crime. For example, not explaining what photographs showed or only providing police incident reference numbers, but not explaining what had happened. Without clear and detailed evidence of your place of worship’s vulnerability to hate crime, your application is unlikely to be successful. Examples Here are some examples of what successful and unsuccessful applications might look like. This is a guide only and should not be copied in your application form. Successful applicant 1: We have experienced several hate crimes and incidents over the past few years. We have not reported all of these to the police. In the past year, we have had three incidences of hate graffiti occur on our walls during prayer times. I attach photographic evidence of the incidents. At every religious festival, we receive harassment. Protest groups attend and shout abusive things at us. I attach a witness statement from a worshipper who suffered some of this abuse at a recent religious festival. Last year, we also had an incident of criminal damage. People entered our premises during the night and destroyed important religious texts and statutes. They broke down the door, and set fire to the religious texts. I attach photographic evidence of the damage. This felt hate motivated as the religious texts and statutes were purposefully targeted and damaged. We recently had a more serious incident involving a male trying to enter the premises with a knife. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and the police arrived promptly to deal with the man. I attach the police crime reference report from the incident, which provides further information on what happened. This was recorded by the police as a hate crime, as the man stated he had been there to hurt worshippers. These incidents have made our worshippers feel vulnerable and targeted because of their faith. A local place of worship down the road has also experienced a number of similar religiously motivated hate crimes, and this adds to our feelings of vulnerability, as we feel tensions from the surrounding community. Successful applicant 2: We recently experienced a terrible incident where all of our religious statues were destroyed in one night. We also had all of our windows smashed. This attack was deliberate, iconoclastic, and planned. The perpetrators attacked the site at night, and the day before an important religious festival. This meant that we were unable to properly celebrate the religious festival, and instead spent the day talking to the police and clearing up the mess. This was a terrible attack which has made our worshippers feel really vulnerable. Prior to this, we have experienced some low level anti-social behaviour, with people trespassing and littering on the premises. However, this attack shows a deliberate shift into more direct attacks against our faith and premises. In support of this application, I attach photographs of the damage, witness reports detailing the impact, a survey of worshippers and how they feel about safety, police incident reports, and CCTV footage of the incidents. Unsuccessful applicant 1: In the current climate, all places of worship are vulnerable to hate crime. Unsuccessful applicant 2: We had someone leave a bag of rubbish on our premises. As demonstrated by these examples, the applicants who provide more detail and upload evidence in support of their application, are the applicants which are more likely to score highly. Site survey If your application successfully demonstrates your vulnerability to hate crime, Esotec Limited will arrange to visit your place of worship with a local ‘Designing Out Crime Officer’ (DOCO). DOCOs are qualified experts in crime prevention and environment/building design. They will look at your current security arrangements and recommend the most appropriate physical protective security measures for your site. The recommended measures will be designed to reduce your place of worship’s vulnerability to hate crime. If you are content with the recommended security measures, you will be asked to confirm whether you wish to continue with your application. At this point, you should not undertake any installation works yourself or arrange for the security measures to be installed by another contractor. We cannot reimburse your place of worship for works carried out by another contractor. A similar site survey will be carried out for successful applicants who apply for guarding services under the Protective Security Mosques Scheme. This will be to determine the most appropriate guarding regime for each place of worship. Further information will be provided to relevant applicants once a supplier has been announced later in the year. Due diligence checks will be carried out by the Home Office throughout the application process. Application outcome We will let applicants know by email whether they have been successful or not under the schemes. We aim to let you know the result of your application no later than November 2023 (this date is a guide and may be subject to change). Installation of physical security measures If your application is successful, Esotec Limited will contact you to arrange a date to install your approved physical protective security measures. The Home Office will cover all of the costs to purchase and install agreed security measures, which will be paid directly to Esotec Limited. This does not include costs associated with permissions/consent required, or preparatory work required (for example, costs associated with clearing site debris or foliage to allow installation works to occur). The Home Office will conduct random audit checks on a number of completed projects to ensure that all installations are in line with the agreed measures and to a satisfactory standard. All successful applicants should be prepared for the Home Office to arrange its audit. We also ask that successful applicants complete a short survey once security measures have been installed. This will give you an opportunity to say how the funded measures have benefitted your place of worship or associated faith community centre and provide any feedback on the process to the Home Office. Esotec Limited may use third party sub-contractors to install any future physical security measures, as and when required. If your application is successful, we ask that you engage quickly and fully with Esotec Limited to agree a survey visit to your place of worship and any further arrangements with contractors etc. We may otherwise need to withdraw any offer of funding. Planning restrictions The award of a grant to install security measures at your place of worship does not include permission to carry out the works. If your application is successful, you will need to check if further permissions are needed for the work to be carried out (for example, planning permission, listed building consent, faculty permission etc). We ask you to seek any permissions required as quickly as possible. Esotec Limited will seek confirmation from you that the application process for any consents needed has been started within two weeks of notification that your application has been successful. |