Mosque security funding was meant to be a fast, practical response to the targeted attacks mosques faced during the 2024 riots. Instead, data disclosed to the Home Office in August 2026 shows a scheme struggling under its own backlog: of 510 applications received between July 2024 and November 2025, only 199 had been approved, 311 remained pending, and not a single application had been formally rejected.
The figures, obtained after an appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office forced the Home Office to release them, mean fewer than 200 of the UK’s roughly 1,800 mosques have so far received a decision on funding intended for CCTV, alarms, fencing and dedicated security personnel. Some applicants have reportedly been waiting close to two years.
A scheme under pressure from its own success
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme carries a budget of up to £40 million a year, administered by the Home Office. The Muslim Council of Britain has been publicly critical of how it is being run. Dr Naomi Green, the MCB’s deputy secretary general, said the figures were “yet more evidence that this scheme is not fit for purpose” and renewed the organisation’s call for an independent review, alongside a recommendation – first made in October 2025 and still without a government response – for a dedicated helpline to help clear the backlog. Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy put the underlying principle plainly: protection for places of worship “should not be looked at as a favour. It should be a basic duty of the state.”
For mosque committees and trustees, the practical question is not whether the funding exists in principle – it does, at a record level – but how to strengthen a slow-moving application while continuing to manage risk in the meantime. That means not treating an application as a substitute for a current security posture, particularly for sites that have already experienced hostile attention or sit in an area with elevated community tension.
What mosques can do while applications are pending
Mosques waiting on a funding decision are not without options. A documented risk assessment, even a modest one, strengthens both the application itself and any interim security arrangements the site puts in place. Basic measures – controlled entry during prayer times, a volunteer or paid presence at busy services, clear reporting lines to local police – do not require grant funding to start. Our corporate and community-site security team has supported places of worship with interim guarding and risk assessments while grant applications work through the system, and can help produce the kind of documented assessment that supports a stronger funding case.
The wider funding picture is not static either. Alongside the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme, the Home Office confirmed record levels of funding across all faith-site schemes for 2026/27, and Parliament has continued to receive written questions pressing ministers on processing times. Sites tracking their own application should also monitor guidance published by the Muslim Council of Britain and the underlying Home Office funding announcement, both of which are more current than most third-party summaries.
Need a security review?
If your mosque, school or community centre is waiting on a funding decision and wants an interim security assessment or guarding support, our team can help. Call us on 020 3700 0967, email info@secureonsitesecurity.co.uk, or visit our contact page. Related services:
- Corporate and community-site security for places of worship and faith community buildings.
- Manned guarding for busy prayer times and community events.
- School security for attached faith schools and supplementary schools.
Until the mosque security funding backlog clears, an interim risk assessment and a visible, sensible security presence remain the most reliable protection a site can put in place on its own timetable.
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