Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle crime that crosses police force boundaries.

The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to tackle crime effectively, including when crime crosses police force boundaries.

When it does, the National Crime Agency (NCA), which leads the UK's fight to cut serious and organised crime, and policing’s Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network, have specialised intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of threats to bring offenders to justice. This includes tackling ‘borderless’ serious crimes including fraud, cyber-enabled criminality, online child sexual exploitation and abuse and County Lines.

Both the NCA and ROCU network have been allocated significant resources to enhance their capacity and capability to continue tackling serious crime at both national and regional levels.

The Home Office is also funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response to County Lines. This is vital in strengthening the law enforcement response and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.