Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people involved in the criminal exploitation of vulnerable young people in county lines operations have been charged with modern slavery offences.

The police and Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) are responsible for charging decisions with regards to county lines related criminality. The key is that prosecutions are brought, and the charges should cover the full range of criminality involved including Modern Slavery offences.We are working with the police and the CPS to take full advantage of powers in the Modern Slavery Act when making charging decisions against county line gang members. The CPS have issued an overview of the approach to be taken in criminal investigations and prosecutions linked to ‘county lines’ offending, with a particular focus on the relevance of the Modern Slavery Act.