Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations 2017 on preventing the growth of the county lines drug trade.

The Government legislated to introduce Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders (DDTROs) following a request from law enforcement to introduce this additional disruption tool for county lines drug dealing. DDTROs came into effect in December 2017 and after an initial pilot period were rolled out to all forces in February 2018.

The new National County Lines Coordination Centre (NLCLCC) is responsible for supporting cross border efforts to tackle county lines and maintains oversight of the use of DDTROs. The NCLCC is responsible for providing forces with support and guidance on the use of DDTROs as part of a package of techniques to disrupt county lines perpetrators.