- New figures show City Hall programme helps half of participants to disengage from County Lines
- More than 3,200 young people identified as being involved in lines operating in 41 counties across the UK
- Sadiq invests further £750,000 to help protect young Londoners at increased risk of exploitation
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today published new figures that show more than half of young Londoners engaging with a City Hall programme have either reduced, or successfully been supported away from, County Lines activity.
The Mayor’s £3 Million Rescue and Response programme is working to better understand, target and respond to County Lines. It is led by a coalition of London boroughs – Brent, Lewisham, Islington and Tower Hamlets – that help coordinate support across London for young people up to the age of 25. The latest figures from the second year of the programme identified 3,290 young people in London who are being exploited to supply drugs through County Lines networks across 41 counties.
Since the launch of the programme in 2018, more than 1,100 young Londoners have been referred for specialist support – half of whom were aged under 18 and not in full-time education or training. As a result, more than 60 per cent of those who engaged with the programme have been successfully supported to reduce their involvement in County Lines with delivery partners St Giles, Abianda and Safer London.
Typically, a vulnerable young person comes to the attention of police or social services because they have been reported as missing or due to issues including lack of safe accommodation, insufficient income to buy food, regular drug use or criminal peers. After being identified as being involved in County Lines and referred to the programme, young people receive bespoke interventions based on their specific needs and risks to help improve their physical and mental wellbeing. This can include one-to-one support, help to build healthy family relationships, specialist support for young women, safeguarding away from criminal exploitation and help securing safe accommodation via housing advocacy.
Its success has prompted a further £750,000 investment from City Hall in 2020/21 to help protect young Londoners at increased risk of being exploited by County Line gangs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
London is the highest exporting area for so-called County Lines – a term for criminal individuals and gangs that prey on young people to help supply drugs across the country using mobile phone networks. 15 per cent of all activity originates in the capital and this is driving violence and the criminal exploitation of vulnerable young people.* Latest stats show the ‘top five’ towns impacted by London lines being recorded as Brighton, Cambridge, Southampton, Portsmouth and Basingstoke with referral rates continuing to be high for young Londoners during lockdown.
Whilst the Met police have been able to go after more of those controlling the lines from London, evidence from the Rescue and Response highlights how networks and gangs are continuing to groom and exploit young Londoners aged between 18-24. A third of young Londoners have either lost their jobs or been furloughed compared to one-in-six older adults [2] during the pandemic. During lockdown gang leaders are encouraging young people to pose as key workers to justify breaking the lockdown restrictions if identified, altering dealing hours and locations to blend in with the lockdown routine and using social media to promote fake lifestyles and recruit young people who are out of education and unemployed.
The Government set up the National County Lines Coordination Centre in 2018 to coordinate the policing of County Lines. It identifies people being exploited by County Lines, but there is a significant gap in terms of the support being provided for young people. Sadiq is determined to do everything he can to support vulnerable young people successfully leave a life of crime and exploitation, but it’s clear more needs to be done to get a grip on a growing issue with any further Covid restrictions likely to put more vulnerable young people at risk.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It’s vital we act now to protect children and young Londoners who we know are at increased risk of exploitation by County Lines during the pandemic. Criminal individuals and gangs are using the uncertainty created by Covid-19 to recruit disadvantaged young Londoners, many of whom have lost their jobs and in some cases their accommodation.
“It’s encouraging to see that City Hall’s rescue and response programme is making a difference – supporting hundreds of vulnerable young people to leave county lines and turn their lives around. But we know we’re only scratching the surface of a major national issue that has evolved and is still driving violence in London and across the country. The Government must follow City Hall’s lead by being tough on the causes of crime. That means proper investment to help us support more young people being exploited and reversing the damaging cuts to local and social services which are at the frontline in the battle to tackle this issue.”
Megan Hatton, Operations Manager for the Rescue and Response Project said: “Since the Rescue and Response project went live in September 2018, we have seen a huge demand for support for young Londoners who are victims of county lines exploitation. The project continues to provide support to these young people however as the data shows, we are only scratching the service and more needs to be done across our region, and nationally. We hope that Rescue and Response continues to receive funding past 2021 so we can continue to provide support to our young people.”
Evan Jones, Head of Child Criminal Exploitation at St Giles, said: “We are excited to be working with our partners on Rescue and Response to help some of the most vulnerable young Londoners. County line involvement has devastating effects on young people, their families and the wider community. Since 2018, St Giles has been offering specialised services to help young people exit county lines and rebuild their lives. Last year, we helped 607 exit or reduce county lines activity across all St Giles projects, working in London, Kent, Wales, Leeds and the West Midlands. Through working in partnership with projects like Rescue and Response, we can reach many more young people and offer them the help they so desperately need.”
Notes to editors
+ The Mayor invested £3 million in 2018 in a three-year Rescue and Response programme to work to better understand, target and respond to County Lines. This has increased to £3.75 million in 2020/21 to increase capacity. Over two years 1,142 young people have been referred to the programme with 313 engaging – 60 per cent of whom reduced their involvement in County Lines activity. Evidence shows it takes time to engage with a young person suffering criminal exploitation for a number of reasons, including fear of reprisal, and that despite young people being willing to engage and leave exploitation, criminal gang pressure is often the biggest challenge to overcome. Gangs target vulnerabilities in a young person’s life, including poverty, family breakdown, exclusion from school, drug addiction and learning difficulties. Rescue and Response has three delivery partners, supported by analysts and partnership coordinators that help manage referrals, that identify and provide interventions and ongoing support for a vulnerable young person. All three are at capacity and have referrals on a waiting list. St Giles provides one-to-one support for young men, manage an out-of-hours support phone line and a rescue service to bring home young Londoners exploited in counties and begin supporting them as soon as possible, Abianda offers support for young women involved in County Lines, while Safer London helps young people impacted or affected by gangs.
[1] Link to year two Rescue and Response report https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/rescue_recovery_year_2_sa_-_sept_2020.pdf
[2] Research shows that young people will be adversely affected by the impact of COVID-19. The Resolution Foundation found that one-third of 18-24-year-old employees (excluding students) have lost jobs or been furloughed, compared to one-in-six older adults. Resolution Foundation: ‘Young workers in the coronavirus crisis’
*NCA link re percentage of crime in London is County Lines https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications/257-county-lines-drug-supply-vulnerability-and-harm-2018/file