Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page five of the National Crime Agency's report entitled County Lines Drug Supply, Vulnerability and Harm 2018, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of concealing drugs internally for transportation in (a) England and (b) Wales.

This Government is taking action to target those who seek to exploit vulnerable children through their county lines operations, which includes the practice of concealing drugs internally for transportation.

On 20 January, the Government announced £40m of dedicated investment to tackle drugs supply and county lines and surge our activity against these ruthless gangs. This will allow us to expand and build upon the successful results of our existing £25m county lines programme and brings the total invested to £65 million since November 2019.

Through our county lines programme we are funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to improve the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. NCLCC are responsible for delivering the National Strategic Assessment for county lines and the next assessment, for the period covering 2020, will be published shortly.