Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of resources allocated to (a) police services in England and Wales and (b) the National Crime Agency to (i) all investigate active branded county lines and (ii) adopt an investigative focus on identifying and charging individuals involved in conspiracy to commit offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We are committed to ensuring the police and the National Crime Agency have the resources they need to carry out their vital work. In 2019/20, total police funding will increase by over £1 billion including council tax and the £100 million Serious Violence Fund. We continue to work closely with law enforcement in order to better understand the evolving issue of county lines drug dealing and develop effective responses.

Through the Serious Violence Strategy published in April 2018, we provided £3.6m to establish the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre, a joint initiative between the National Crime Agency and policing, to enhance the intelligence picture and support cross border efforts to tackle county lines. Since its launch in September 2018, it has carried out three separate weeks of operational intensification leading to over 1600 arrests, over 2100 individuals safeguarded and significant seizures of weapons and drugs.

The Government made £8.5m of additional funding available from the police transformation fund to support the establishment of the Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit (MSPTU) in October 2016. The programme supports a bespoke modern slavery intelligence hub, regional analysts and operational coordinators, improved training and dedicated thematic experts to support individual police forces. The Government is continuing to support the programme through an additional £3.1m of funding for the current financial year. During 2019/20 the Programme will aim to support the police services to increase the focus on prevention activity and improving investigations.