Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders have been issued since those orders came into force.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of DDTROs issued nationally. However, through our County Lines programme we are supporting targeted operational activity against county lines which includes the use of DDTROs. Through this programme, the West Midlands ROCU, have issued 91 DDTROs to date since November 2019.
In addition, through the County Lines programme, we are also funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to co-ordinate the national law enforcement response which includes establishing a civil and criminal orders team to ensure effectiveness and maximise the use of the range of civil orders to tackle county lines, with a particular focus on DDTROs. This includes working with forces and Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCU) to develop and disseminate best practice to raise awareness of these orders and their potential for disruption of county lines gangs.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not collect data on the number of DDTROs issued nationally. However, through our County Lines programme we are supporting targeted operational activity against county lines which includes the use of DDTROs. Through this programme, the West Midlands ROCU, have issued 91 DDTROs to date since November 2019.
In addition, through the County Lines programme, we are also funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to co-ordinate the national law enforcement response which includes establishing a civil and criminal orders team to ensure effectiveness and maximise the use of the range of civil orders to tackle county lines, with a particular focus on DDTROs. This includes working with forces and Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCU) to develop and disseminate best practice to raise awareness of these orders and their potential for disruption of county lines gangs.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
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.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations 2017 are able to prevent Wi-Fi messaging on mobile devices associated with county lines activity.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Home Office has not produced technical guidance on the scope of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations (DDTROs). However we have funded the establishment of the National County Lines Coordination Centre, which launched in September, and provides a central source of expertise and best practice for police forces.
The DDTRO legislation has been drafted to enable the blocking of access to Wi-Fi service and future proof the legislation as far as possible against developments in technology. The legislation makes provisions for a communications provider ‘to take whatever action the order specifies for the purpose of preventing or restricting the use of communication devices in connection with drug dealing offences’. The definitions of communications provider, communication devices and telecommunications service are wide enough to encompass developments in technology.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has published any technical guidance on the scope of the Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations 2017.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Home Office has not produced technical guidance on the scope of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders Regulations (DDTROs). However we have funded the establishment of the National County Lines Coordination Centre, which launched in September, and provides a central source of expertise and best practice for police forces.
The DDTRO legislation has been drafted to enable the blocking of access to Wi-Fi service and future proof the legislation as far as possible against developments in technology. The legislation makes provisions for a communications provider ‘to take whatever action the order specifies for the purpose of preventing or restricting the use of communication devices in connection with drug dealing offences’. The definitions of communications provider, communication devices and telecommunications service are wide enough to encompass developments in technology.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many phone numbers used for county lines drugs dealing have been closed down after the introduction of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders in December 2017.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The use of Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders is an operational matter and the National County Lines Co-Ordination Centre does not routinely disclose this information.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress is being made in tackling county lines criminal activity; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are absolutely committed to tackling county lines. The action we are taking is set out in the Serious Violence Strategy published on 9 April.
We are delivering a cross-Government and agency programme of work to tackle county lines through the County Lines Action Plan (which is published as an Annex to the Serious Violence Strategy). Last December we introduced the Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders to enable police to shut down phone lines used to facilitate drug deals, and we have announced funding of £3.6million to establish a new National County Lines Co-Ordination Centre. Raising awareness of county lines and the appropriate safeguarding response is also very important. In July last year we published guidance on county lines for frontline practitioners to help them identify and respond to county lines exploitation and we are currently delivering a nationwide awareness-raising communications campaign.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department has collected to identify growth in county lines activity across the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The NCA produces a threat assessment that provides information about the extent of county lines across England and Wales. Following a request from the Home Office, the NCA undertook the first national county lines assessment in 2014 which was published by the NCA in August 2015. They then provided a second threat assessment on county lines in November 2016 and its most recent threat assessment was published on 28 November 2017. This sets out how the issue of county lines has continued to develop and is now being seen as a problem in more areas of England and Wales.
We are supporting the work of the NPCC and NCA to establish a new National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) by providing specific funding of £3.6 million over the next two years (2018/19 and 2019/20).
The NCLCC will help bring the law enforcement effort together as the links behind county lines are complicated and the threat crosses police force boundaries. The NCLCC will support operational policing, for example, through supporting police forces in their use of the Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders (DDTROs) to close down mobile phone numbers used for county lines drug dealing, as well as providing a central point at which intelligence and information is shared and the links with criminal exploitation and illegal drugs markets are identified.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps she is taking to tackle county lines exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are taking a wide range of actions to tackle county lines and are working together closely across Government, with the police, the National Crime Agency, local authorities and voluntary sector partners. Most recently, in December we implemented the new Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders to enable the police and NCA to close down phone numbers being used for county lines drugs dealing.
Asked by: Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps she is taking to tackle county lines exploitation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are taking a wide range of actions to tackle county lines and are working together closely across Government, with the police, the National Crime Agency, local authorities and voluntary sector partners. Most recently, in December we implemented the new Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders to enable the police and NCA to close down phone numbers being used for county lines drugs dealing.