Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle drug dealing and drug houses in local communities.

This Government is committed to tackling the illicit drug trade, protecting the most vulnerable and helping those with a drug dependency to recover. That’s why the Government have invested £65m to tackle drug supply and county lines so far, including £40m this year as part of the wider £148m package announced in January to tackle drugs misuse, supply and county lines.

Through our County Lines Programme investment we have expanded the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre; established dedicated county lines task forces in London, Merseyside, the West Midlands and British Transport Police; invested in new technology including Automatic Number Plate Recognition; and increased specialist support for victims of county lines. Since November 2019, this has already resulted in more than 1,100 lines closed, over 6,300 arrests, over £2.9 million in cash and significant quantities of drugs seized, and more than 1,900 vulnerable people safeguarded.

We recognise that the use of cuckooed addresses remains a feature of county lines gangs’ activities which is why we work closely with law enforcement partners on this issue through the Home Office-funded county lines programme.

In addition, we have invested £59m until March 2023 on Project ADDER trail-blazing a whole-system response to combating drug misuse with the enforcement, diversion and treatment and recovery in areas hardest hit across England and Wales.