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Organised Crime: Oldham

Answer

The Home Office does not hold specific information on the potential impact of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and gang activity on police resources in Oldham. However, tackling CCE is a priority for this Government which is why we are providing funding to support Greater Manchester Police to help tackle county lines, CCE and serious violence.

Through our Drug Strategy, we are providing a targeted investment of up to £145m over three years to bolster our County Lines Programme. This includes funding a dedicated county lines taskforce in Greater Manchester Police, as well as funding Catch22 to provide a specialist support and rescue service for under 25’s and their families in Greater Manchester to help them safely reduce and exit their involvement from county lines including child criminal exploitation.

We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home Office-funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children’s Society with a funding of £1.37 million for delivery between 2023-25. Through the programme, a dedicated Northwest Prevention Officer works to support a range of partners to improve the response to multiple forms of exploitation including CCE in the Northwest region.

To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has also invested over £20m to develop and run the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (with funding of over £4.38m in 2023-2024).

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

19126

Session

2023-24

Subjects

Children Police Organised crime Oldham Gangs Exploitation

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk