Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps the (a) police and (b) National Crime Agency have taken to tackle county lines operations in (i) Hampshire and (ii) the UK.

This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why, through the 10-year Drug Strategy, we are bolstering our flagship County Lines Programme, investing up to £145m over three years to tackle this violent and exploitative distribution model.

County lines is a national issue which affects all forces which is why, through the Programme, we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The County Lines Programme forces (MPS, West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and British Transport Police) also regularly conduct joint operations with importing forces. In addition, we have established a dedicated fund which provides local police forces, including Hampshire Constabulary, with additional funding to tackle county lines.

Since the County Lines Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,100 line closures, over 15,600 arrests and over 8,000 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,100 line closures by the Programme taskforces since April 2022, meeting the Drugs Strategy commitment of over 2,000 by April 2025 in half the time.