Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether has had discussions with British Transport Police on the adequacy of the training available to help officers (a) identify and (b) respond to county lines exploitation.

The British Transport Police (BTP) have a comprehensive training programme in place. All new police officers and police community support officers receive input from the County Lines Taskforce safeguarding team in their initial training and the team provide training to other teams within the force when required.

BTP’s County Lines safeguarding team also deliver the national County Lines coordination centre hydra training which is open to all BTP officers. They also invite partners from children’s services to attend and take part alongside them. The force also provide resources and guidance to officers on how to identify exploitation and make effective referrals.