A support and rescue intervention service aimed at victims of County Lines OCGs is to get dedicated funding

£5 million worth of funding has been allocated by the Home Office to support victims of county lines across the next three years.

The money will be given to support services in London, the West Midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester – force areas which already receive specialist county lines funding under the County Lines Programme.

GMP was the most recent force to be added to the programme back in April when it said that its funding would go towards a dedicated county lines team.

The Programme, which has been running since 2019, has so far shut down 2,400 lines, made over 8,000 arrests and engaged more than 9,500 individuals through safeguarding interventions.

Meanwhile, the support package announced today does not go to forces but will go towards providing a rescue service and one-to-one support for victims within the mentioned areas.

Both the rescue service and the one-to-one support will be delivered by not-for-profit organisation Catch22.

Catch22 will make contact with young people who have been referred by safeguarding partners in order to support them to exit their involvement in county lines activity.

The rescue service will be used to bring home under 25s who are identified outside of their home towns.

Home Office minister Jeremy Quin said: “I want victims of exploitation to know that we are on their side – and that there is a way out, a brighter future available.

“These services will be relentless in their focus to carve out safe routes home for young people in danger and tear them away from the grip of these merciless county lines gangs, opening up their futures once more.”

Funding will additionally be allocated to the confidential and anonymous helpline SafeCall which operates specifically for victims of county lines exploitation.

The service is delivered by charity Missing People.