Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help safeguard mosques since the attacks on mosques in Birmingham on 20 March 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Police continue to protect places of worship as part of their core activity partic-ularly in relation to hate crime. Following the events in New Zealand and the attacks on mosques in Birmingham, local police have increased patrolling and security measures around mosques and other places of worship to enhance safety and reassure the public.

Last week, we announced an uplift of funding for the next year of the Places of Worship Protective Security Fund to £1.6 million. This is double the amount awarded last year. Under the 2016 Hate Crime Action Plan, we committed £2.4m over three years to provide protective security measures to places of worship who have been victim of or are vulnerable to hate crime attacks, and so far we have awarded grants to just under 50 mosques. The Government has also just announced a new £5 million fund over 3 years to provide security training for Places of Worship. We will be working closely with communities and faith leaders to develop this new scheme and deliver it effectively.

Protective security advice is provided by the National Counter Terrorism Secu-rity Office (NaCTSO), and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastruc-ture (CPNI). NaCTSO have published sector specific protective security ad-vice and guidance for owners and operators of crowded places sites such as places of worship, to allow them to identify key risks and consider what steps to take. Government continues to work closely with community groups, includ-ing Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group and Tell MAMA, as well as through counter extremism coordinators in local authority areas, to provide reassur-ance to communities and develop understanding of tensions and issues.