County lines gangs fuel a surge in child slavery
Plea for action as number of cases doubles in just a year
THE number of British children being used as slaves has doubled in a year after an explosion in ‘county lines’ drug gangs.
Shocking figures show that modern slavery cases involving children soared from 676 in 2017 to 1,421 last year.
Over the past five years, the number of youngsters being targeted by criminal gangs has rocketed by more than 2,000 per cent – from just 63 cases in 2013.
Experts say the growth of county lines gangs has fuelled the rise in children as young as 11 being enslaved.
The number of drug- dealing operations has almost trebled from 720 last year to around 2,000, with teenagers aged 15 to 17 making up the bulk of the gangs involved.
Police chiefs have said the £500million industry in county lines – referring to the mobile phones used to sell, distribute and buy the drugs – has ‘saturated’ the country.
In 2018, there were 1,421 British children submitted to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which assesses instances of modern slavery, the National Crime Agency (NCA) found.
Of those, 987 – two-thirds – were being used for labour exploitation, principally by drug gangs. The report said: ‘ This increase is due, in the majority, to a continued increase in the recorded NRM referrals related to the county lines criminal business model of exploiting vulnerable individuals and other forms of criminal labour exploitation.’
The terrifying number of youngsters being sucked into the vile trade was disclosed yesterday as a separate report warned many children’s services do not realise teenagers in their care are victims.
An independent review into the Modern Slavery Act 2015 called for a rollout of child trafficking ‘guardians’ to safeguard those at risk.
The report, by MPs Frank Field and Maria Miller and retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss, warned local authorof ities are failing to act when children go missing and files are closed if they are not found within six months.
The NCA’s latest modern slavery statistics, published today, show that 6,993 potential victims of all ages were identified last year – a rise 80 per cent from 3,804 in 2016. Of the 6,993 victims, 1,625 were British, compared with 819 in 2017.
Roy McComb, the NCA’s deputy director, said: ‘ The increase is undoubtedly the result of greater awareness, understanding and reporting of modern slavery.
‘However, the more we look, the more we find, and it is likely these figures represent only a snapshot of the true scale of slavery and trafficking in the UK. Of particular concern is the increase in referrals made for county lines-type exploitation.’
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said: ‘The Government needs to get a grip on the true scale of the problem.’
An NSPCC spokesman said: ‘Sadly, our child trafficking team knows only too well that children continue to be smuggled into the UK as if they were objects and not humans.
‘More must be done to help the public know how to spot a trafficked child, and give them the confidence to report their concerns.’