Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations 2017 are able to prevent Wi-Fi messaging on mobile devices associated with county lines activity.

The Home Office has not produced technical guidance on the scope of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations (DDTROs). However we have funded the establishment of the National County Lines Coordination Centre, which launched in September, and provides a central source of expertise and best practice for police forces.

The DDTRO legislation has been drafted to enable the blocking of access to Wi-Fi service and future proof the legislation as far as possible against developments in technology. The legislation makes provisions for a communications provider ‘to take whatever action the order specifies for the purpose of preventing or restricting the use of communication devices in connection with drug dealing offences’. The definitions of communications provider, communication devices and telecommunications service are wide enough to encompass developments in technology.