Section 1: What Are Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines?
Child criminal exploitation (CCE) happens when an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child into criminal activity. KCSIE is clear that a child can be criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual, and that exploitation can happen in person or online.
County lines is one of the most visible forms of CCE. It describes gangs and organised criminal networks moving illegal drugs from one area into other areas, often across police boundaries, using a dedicated mobile phone line, known as a "deal line", to take orders. Children and vulnerable adults are exploited to carry and sell drugs and money, and coercion, intimidation, violence and weapons are used to control them.
Exploitation is not limited to drugs. Children may be forced to shoplift, steal phones or bikes, store weapons, launder money through their bank accounts, or commit violence on behalf of others.
Section 2: How Exploitation Works
Targeting. Exploiters look for vulnerability: children who are excluded or not in school, in care, going missing, using substances, experiencing poverty, neglect or abuse, or looking for belonging and status. Any child can be targeted, including girls and children from stable homes.
Grooming. Children are drawn in with gifts, money, food, attention, status and a sense of family. Recruitment increasingly starts on social media, where exploiters advertise "easy money".
Entrapment and debt bondage. Once involved, a child may be told they owe a debt, sometimes after a "robbery" that the exploiters have staged themselves. The debt is then used to force further work.
Control. Threats of violence against the child or their family, actual violence, sexual abuse and the use of weapons keep children compliant and silent. Children may be sent away from home for days, staying in "trap houses", sometimes in homes taken over from vulnerable adults (known as "cuckooing").
Internal concealment. Some children are forced to hide drugs inside their bodies, sometimes called "plugging", which carries serious medical risk.
Section 3: The Law and Guidance
Crime and Policing Act 2026. The Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. Part 4 creates:
- a standalone offence of child criminal exploitation, which applies to adults who cause or facilitate a child to commit offences, with a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment;
- child criminal exploitation prevention orders, allowing courts to intervene early;
- a new offence of controlling another person's home for criminal purposes ("cuckooing"), with a maximum of five years' imprisonment; and
- a new offence of causing internal concealment of items for criminal purposes.
These provisions come into force in stages and were not in force at Royal Assent. At the time of writing (October 2026) the CCE and cuckooing offences had not yet been commenced. Check the current position on legislation.gov.uk before quoting them in policy.
Modern Slavery Act 2015. Moving a child to exploit them can amount to trafficking. Section 45 provides a statutory defence for victims of slavery or exploitation who commit certain offences; for under-18s, there is no requirement to show that they were compelled. Children identified as potential victims can be referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM); unlike adults, children do not need to consent to an NRM referral. Schools are not first responders for the NRM, so the DSL should raise the concern with children's social care or the police, who can make the referral.
Serious Violence Duty. Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, local specified authorities must work together to prevent and reduce serious violence, including county lines activity. Educational authorities must be consulted on the local strategy and have a duty to co-operate.
KCSIE 2026 includes CCE and county lines within the safeguarding issues all staff should be aware of, and emphasises considering the context outside the home in which harm can occur.
Section 4: Indicators of Concern
Attendance and education
- Persistent or unexplained absence, lateness, or going missing during the school day
- Repeated going missing from home or care, sometimes for several days
- Sudden disengagement or decline in behaviour, risking suspension or exclusion
Possessions and appearance
- Unexplained money, new clothes, trainers, jewellery or more than one phone
- Frequent calls or messages that cause anxiety, or being "on call"
- Unexplained injuries, or reluctance to explain them
Relationships and behaviour
- Older friends or associates, or being picked up from school in unknown cars
- Travel to unfamiliar towns, or train tickets and receipts from other areas
- Changes in language, use of street slang, or references to "going country" or "the line"
- Fear, secrecy, aggression or sudden withdrawal
High-concern indicators: refer to the DSL immediately
- Carrying drugs, large amounts of cash or a weapon
- Disclosure of a debt, threats or violence
- Being found in another area by police, or a missing episode
- Signs of internal concealment or a medical emergency
Section 5: Staff and DSL Response Protocol
For all staff: frontline response
- Notice and record. Record what you see and hear factually, including small details such as a new phone, a car outside school, or a comment about a debt.
- Report the same day. Pass all concerns to the DSL. Do not wait for a pattern to become obvious; the DSL may already hold other pieces of the picture.
- Do not investigate or confront. Never approach suspected exploiters yourself or try to "rescue" a child. This can increase the danger to the child and to you.
- Use victim-centred language. Avoid terms such as "gang member" or "drug dealer" in records and conversations. Describe what happened and note that the child may be being exploited.
- If there is immediate danger, call 999.
For the DSL: assessment and action
- Build the full picture. Combine attendance data, behaviour records, pastoral notes and information from partners.
- Refer to children's social care where you believe a child is at risk of significant harm, making clear that you suspect criminal exploitation. Use your local referral pathway or the MASH finder.
- Share information with police through your local arrangements, including intelligence such as vehicle registrations, names or locations. Information sharing to protect a child is lawful and expected.
- Request an NRM referral through children's social care or the police where trafficking or modern slavery is suspected.
- Think carefully before exclusion. Exclusion can increase a child's exposure to exploiters during the school day. Consider safeguarding implications before any suspension or permanent exclusion, and agree a safety plan with partners where it goes ahead.
- Respond to missing episodes. Report missing children promptly and make sure return home interviews are shared with school.
- If a child is found with drugs, money or a weapon, follow your searching policy and pass items to the police as required, but treat the incident first as a safeguarding concern and consider exploitation.
- Record all decisions and rationale.
Section 6: Fictional UK School Case Study and Model Response
Background. Brookside High is an 11 to 16 school on the edge of a large English city. Year 9 pupil Tyler, 14, lives with his mum and two younger sisters. He was a regular attender with no safeguarding history until the spring term.
Emerging concerns. Over six weeks, different staff notice different things. His form tutor sees two phones on his desk. The attendance officer notes three unexplained absences, each on a Thursday or Friday. A lunchtime supervisor sees an older young man in a car waiting near the gate. His maths teacher hears him say to a friend that he "owes" someone. None of these concerns seems serious on its own, but each member of staff records it and passes it to the DSL.
The incident. One Monday Tyler's mum calls to say he did not come home on Friday and was found by police on Sunday in a seaside town 90 miles away. He has returned home but will not say where he was.
DSL response. The DSL, Mr Osei, reviews all the records together and recognises indicators of county lines exploitation. He:
- Meets Tyler with a trusted member of staff, framing the conversation around his safety rather than his behaviour. Tyler says little but admits he "has to pay someone back".
- Makes a same-day referral to children's social care, stating clearly that he suspects child criminal exploitation and setting out each indicator.
- Shares the car details and the dates of absence with the police through the local information-sharing route.
- Asks children's social care to consider an NRM referral, as Tyler appears to have been moved to another area to sell drugs.
- Arranges for Tyler's absences to be followed up by phone on the morning of any non-attendance, and agrees with his mum how to report any future missing episode immediately.
- Advises the head of year against a planned suspension for a separate behaviour incident, explaining that time out of school would increase Tyler's risk. A supervised internal alternative is used instead.
- Records all actions and reasoning.
Review. A multi-agency meeting agrees a safety plan, including a mentoring programme and youth work support. Tyler's attendance improves, and police use the information shared to disrupt the line.
Learning points
- Small concerns mattered. Each member of staff recorded something that seemed minor; together they revealed exploitation.
- Tyler was treated as a victim throughout, even though he had been involved in selling drugs.
- Exclusion was considered through a safeguarding lens.
- Information was shared promptly with social care and police, including details that helped disrupt the exploiters.
Section 7: Wider School Actions
Curriculum. Teach pupils how grooming into crime works, including online "easy money" adverts, debt bondage and staged robberies, and make sure they know exploitation is not their fault. Pupils can report crime anonymously through Fearless, the youth service of Crimestoppers.
Staff awareness. All staff, including lunchtime, reception and site staff, should know the indicators and the importance of recording small details. Exploiters often operate near school gates and on journeys to and from school.
Attendance and inclusion. Treat persistent absence and exclusion as potential safeguarding issues. Work with partners on alternatives to exclusion for children at risk.
Partnership. Know your local multi-agency arrangements for exploitation, missing children and serious violence, and make sure the school contributes to the local Serious Violence Duty strategy.
Parents and carers. Help families recognise the signs and know who to contact. The Safeguard Hub's Know the Signs materials can support this.
Useful links