Drugs: Organised Crime

(asked on 19th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) scale and (b) nature of the criminal practice known as cuckooing in (i) England and (ii) Wales; what steps her Department has taken to tackle that practice; and what (A) financial, (B) technical and (C) other resources her Department is making available to tackle that crime.


Answered by
Kit Malthouse Portrait
Kit Malthouse
This question was answered on 22nd April 2021

Cuckooing is a form of exploitation that devastates lives. This Government takes all forms of exploitation seriously and is determined to tackle it.

We recognise that the use of cuckooed addresses remains a feature of county lines gangs’ activities. We work closely with law enforcement partners on this issue through our £25m County Lines Programme. Through our programme, we are funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to improve the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response, including related exploitation and vulnerability. NCLCC are responsible for delivering the National Strategic Assessment for county lines and the next assessment, for the period covering 2020, will be published shortly where Cuckooing will be highlighted.

In addition, on 20 January 2021, the Government announced £40m dedicated funding for FY 21/22 to tackle drugs supply and county lines and surge our activity against these ruthless gangs. This will allow us to expand and build upon the successful results of our £25m county lines programme. The funding has already seen more than 3,400 people arrested, more than 550 lines closed, drugs with a street value of £9 million and £1.5 million cash seized, and more than 770 vulnerable people safeguarded.

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