County Lines Programme data
Updated 7 October 2025
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To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade and take back our streets, it is crucial that we tackle the gangs that lure children and young people into crime and run county lines through violence and exploitation.
Our estimates suggest that approximately 14,500 children were identified as at risk or involved in child criminal exploitation in 23/24, and we know this is likely to be a significant underestimate on the scale of the problem.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. It is strongly linked to violent offending, including knife crime and violence against women and girls.
Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs whilst breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade. It also provides specialist support for children and young people to escape county lines and child criminal exploitation.
In addition, the programme includes investment in law enforcement intensification, primarily focused in the 4 police force areas from which the majority of county lines originate (referred to as ‘exporter forces’) and in the British Transport Police.
These figures have been collated using self-reported management information from individual forces and the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC). Figures have been quality assured by forces, however they may be subject to improvements and change.
County Lines Programme Taskforce results
The County Lines Programme Taskforces refer to the Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester Police and British Transport Police.
| Metric | July 2024 to March 2025 | April 2025 to June 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Line closures | 1,225 | 600 |
| Arrests | 2,038 | 977 |
| Line holders charged through Type 1 line closures | 808 | 318 |
| Individuals referred for safeguarding | 2,192 | 1044 |
| Knives / sharp objects seized | 403 | 202 |
County Lines Programme Surge Fund results
The County Lines Programme Surge Fund is an additional funding stream for other forces in England and Wales that are not already receiving dedicated funding from the County Lines Programme to support operational efforts to tackle their local county lines threat.
Between July 2024 and March 2025, the County Lines Programme Surge Fund resulted in a further 498 county lines closed and 3,278 individuals arrested.
Surge Fund safeguarding referrals, line holders charged and knives seized cannot currently be deconflicted from the Programme taskforce results, and therefore are not reported to avoid the risk of double counting.
Summary of information
In total, since July 2024, law enforcement activity conducted through the County Lines Programme resulted in 2,323 line closures, 6,293 arrests (including 1,126 line holders charged), 3,236 safeguarding referrals and 618 knives seized.
Figures reported
Line closures
‘Line closure’ refers to the closure of a county line through the arrest and charge of a line holder (previously referred to as a ‘Type 1’ line closure). NCLCC determines when a line was closed by using evidence that the controlling gang is no longer capable of distributing drugs using that telephone number, with check backs to ensure the telephone number remains out of use.
Arrests
The number of arrests refer to arrests made through police activity that can be attributed to the County Lines Programme i.e. those that would not have happened in the absence of County Lines Programme funding.
Individuals referred for safeguarding
The number of individuals referred for safeguarding are defined as those that were referred as a result of County Lines Programme-funded activity to specialist support providers or statutory safeguarding partners i.e. those that would not have happened in the absence of County Lines funding.
Line holders charged through line closures
Line closures under the county line programme include the charge of a line holder. However, some line holders control multiple county lines, so one line closure does not necessarily equate to one line holder charged. This statistic captures the total number of line holders charged through the County Lines Programme Taskforces.
Historic County Lines Programme data
An overview of the results of the activity of the County Lines Programme since its launch in November 2019 can be found at the National Archives.