County Lines

The phenomena known as county Lines has been a feature of British Society for more than a decade, beginning in London and the ‘home counties’ and now widespread across Britain. In a 2017 briefing from the National Crime Agency, a survey of Police forces across Britain (National crime Agency, 2017) showed that 65% of them identified the exploitation of children and young people (under 18) to have been involved in County Lines activity in the previous 12 months, the youngest of them aged 14. A year later the same agency estimated that there were “ ...more than 1000 lines in operation nationally with links to increasing levels of serious violence” (Home Office, 2018).

This chapter explores why children and young people become involved, and what issues Educators need to be aware of when working with a child or young person who has been ‘groomed’ into this activity. It begins with an overview of the policies which have framed young peoples' experiences since 2010, and the resultant risk for particular groups of young people, as well as the exacerbation of vulnerable contexts.