Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 37
37
Accepted in Part
Pilot inclusion of Prevention Officers within County Lines Taskforces to share good practice.
Recommendation
We welcome the British Transport Police’s efforts to improve responses to child exploitation through the secondment of two Prevention Officers from the Children’s Society. We recommend that the Government work with other police forces with a dedicated County Lines Taskforce to pilot the inclusion of Prevention Officers within those teams, and the sharing of good practice. (Paragraph 128) Project ADDER
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts, highlighting existing funding for the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre and specialist posts, but states it will "further consider" the specific recommendation to pilot Prevention Officers within County Lines Taskforces.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
The Government partially accepts this recommendation. County lines gangs exploit children and vulnerable young people, coercing them into being ‘runners’ and transporting Class A drugs and money locally as well as around the country. Rail networks are a key method of transportation for these exploited young people and the British Transport Police have developed effective approaches in their response to child exploitation. All County Lines Programme taskforces work closely with the British Transport Police to target transport networks in their area. They also have partnerships with different organisations, including schools and specialist services, to maximise safeguarding efforts. We monitor the delivery of the County Lines Programme through the established County Lines Task and Finish Group which meets regularly to drive forward progress and monitor the impact of the funding we are providing. We will use this group to explore with the taskforces whether there are opportunities for further partnerships. As part of the Programme, we also fund Catch22 to provide a specialist support and rescue service for under 25’s and their families, from the major exporting force areas (Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester Police) who are criminally exploited through county lines, to help them safely reduce and end their involvement. This specialist support and rescue service works directly with the County Lines programme taskforces to support their safeguarding efforts.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗