Home Office says difficult pupils in small towns across the UK are being targeted

Gangs have been specifically targeting children who have been excluded from school to groom them as drug dealers in towns across the UK, a Home Office report is to warn.

National police unit starts work on 'county lines' drug gangs Read more

The report, which is due to be published next week, said children were particularly vulnerable when they were sent to local authority-run pupil referral units (PRUs) after exclusion. It said gangs had been taking advantage of the propensity of some image-conscious institutions to remove difficult pupils.

The research, which was first reported by the Times, was conducted into “county lines”, in which young people are recruited by gangs to deal hard drugs on their behalf in market and coastal towns and rural areas.

“PRUs … appear to be fertile ground for recruitment and continuing involvement in a variety of negative activities including county lines,” the report said. “Exclusion from school does appear to be a highly significant trigger point for the escalation of county lines involvement for children who might be on the fringes of such activity.”

Quick guide What is ‘county lines’ and who are the victims? Show Hide What does the term ‘county lines’ mean? The name ‘county lines’ refers to the phone numbers, or lines, that criminal gangs which traffic drugs from urban to rural areas use to organise the sale of their wares. Gangs in cities such as London, Birmingham and Liverpool use children to deal mostly heroin and crack cocaine over a network of dedicated mobile phones to smaller towns and rural areas. Who are the victims and how are they recruited? The majority of victims groomed into working for gangs are 15- to 17-year-old boys but children as young as 11 have been safeguarded and girls have been targeted.

Many victims are recruited over social media, with offenders luring them with images of cash, designer clothing and luxury cars, but vulnerable girls and women are being targeted by men who create the impression of a romantic relationship before subjecting them to sexual exploitation. How big is the problem? In 2015, about seven forces reported county lines behaviour. Now, 44 forces, including British Transport Police, have recorded county lines behaviour on their turf. No one really knows how many young people across the country are being forced to take part. Children without criminal records – known as ‘clean skins’ – are preferred because they are less likely to be known to detectives. The Children’s Society says 4,000 teenagers in London alone are exploited through county lines, while the children’s commissioner estimated at least 46,000 children in England were caught up in gangs. How many children have been affected The number of individual phone numbers identified by law enforcement officials as being used on established county lines networks is about 2,000 – nearly three times the 720 previously established.



Police estimate the phone numbers are linked to about 1,000 branded networks, with a single line capable of making £800,000 profits in a year. The Children's Commissioner estimates at least 46,000 children in England are caught up in gangs.

It added: “Provision in the PRU does not seem to engage the children and offers very little substance.” The researchers quote a social worker as saying the children “do this twilight timetable where they go into school for one hour at four o’clock – so, of course they can get up to all sorts of stuff all day and no one would know”.

Last week, it emerged that a team of investigators was to focus on county lines gangs. A coordination centre has been set up in Birmingham where police officers aim to develop intelligence on the drugs networks.

School exclusion ‘linked to long-term mental health problems’ – study Read more

The researchers believe some schools’ fears about their reputations were pushing more children into a position where they were vulnerable to grooming by the gangs operating such networks.

According to the report: “[The education system] is highly competitive and sensitive to Ofsted inspections, exam results, public image, and parental and community pressure. Children with poor behaviour and low attainment adversely affect these factors and there appear to be no incentives and little specialist support to try and keep children affected by county lines involvement engaged in education”.

It said that mainstream schools – and particularly academies – should be assessed on the “frequency and nature of exclusions” to give them an incentive to address the issue.