Child criminal exploitation and ‘cuckooing’ of vulnerable people to be made criminal offences

Child criminal exploitation and the ‘cuckooing’ of vulnerable people are to be made criminal offences.

The measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, which will be introduced into Parliament this week, are designed to tackle the grooming and exploitation of children and vulnerable adults, including by county lines drug-dealing gangs.

Under the plans, adults could face up to 10 years in prison for using a child to commit criminal activity, while a separate offence will outlaw cuckooing, where criminals take control of a vulnerable person’s home without consent to carry out illegal activities like drug dealing.

Orders to restrict movements of those who exploit children

A separate measure in the bill would create child criminal exploitation (CCE) prevention orders, which would impose restrictions or requirements on people who pose a risk of exploiting children for criminality, such as limiting their ability to contact specific people or go to certain areas.

These would be imposed after criminal proceedings or through an application by the police.

CCE was identified as a factor in 15,750 children in need assessments in England in 2023-24, however, the government said this was likely to underestimate the scale of the problem because many children were not known to the authorities.

Punishing those who ‘prey on children and vulnerable people’

Announcing the new measures, home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We are introducing these two offences to properly punish those who prey on [children and vulnerable people], ensure victims are properly protected and prevent these often-hidden crimes from occurring in the first place.”

The action was welcomed by Children’s Commissioner for England Rachel de Souza and charity the Children’s Society.

Children’s Commissioner for England Rachel de Souza (credit: Office of the Children’s Commissioner)

De Souza said that many exploited children were “ignored and overlooked” and faced “punishment instead of support”.

Commissioner hopes for earlier intervention by professionals

“Introducing this new offence and new prevention orders will help create that much needed clarity that exploited children are victims,” she added:

“I hope this will enable professionals to intervene at far earlier stages of intervention, backed by plans to create a unique identifying number for every child that helps services identify those in need of support.”

The unique identifier for every child, which is designed to improve inter-agency information sharing to safeguard children, is being legislated for through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

For the Children’s Society, chief executive Mark Russell said: “For too long, adults who groom children into criminal activity – forcing them to hold drugs or launder money or commit theft – have evaded accountability. Charges such as drug possession ignore the core truth; these are child abusers exploiting vulnerable young people.”

He said the offences needed to be backed by “strong enforcement, training for safeguarding professionals and a statutory definition of CCE to help end the postcode lottery in victim support”.