Child criminal exploitation and cuckooing to become criminal offences

Legislation will be brought forward to ban cuckooing, a highly exploitative practice where criminals seize control of a vulnerable person’s home without consent to conduct illegal activities such as drug dealing.

Another new offence will be created against adults who use a child to commit criminal activity.

Current estimates show that approximately 14,500 children were identified as at risk or involved in child criminal exploitation (CCE) in 2023/24, although this is likely an underestimate as many exploited children will not be known to authorities, the Home Office says.

However, under current legislation, only a small number of individuals have been charged for using children in criminal activity.

The standalone CCE offence will target those adults who groom and exploit children into criminal activity, such as County Lines drug running or organised robbery, as well as increasing the opportunities for children to be identified.

Those convicted of committing a CCE offence could face a maximum of ten years in prison.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:  “The exploitation of children and vulnerable people for criminal gain is sickening and it is vital we do everything in our power to eradicate it from our streets.

“We are introducing these two offences to properly punish those who prey on them, ensure victims are properly protected and prevent these often-hidden crimes from occurring in the first place.

“These steps are vital in our efforts to stop the grooming and exploitation of children into criminal gangs, deliver on our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade and work towards our overall mission to make our streets safer.

“The new legislation also includes the creation of new CCE prevention orders, which may be issued at the end of criminal proceedings or upon application by police.

“These bespoke orders will ensure that courts can impose restrictions and requirements on individuals who pose a risk of exploiting a child for criminal purposes, such as limiting their ability to work with children, contact specific people or go to a certain area.

“This will help manage the risk of offending, or reoffending, and breach of these orders (or failure to comply with any relevant notification requirements) will also be a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said the criminal exploitation of children is “a complex type of abuse that causes harm to victims in a way that has for too long been undercounted and poorly understood”.

She added: “Many children targeted by adult criminals themselves face punishment instead of support. Like too many child victims, they are often ignored and overlooked. Their voices and experiences must be listened to, if we are to create a child-centric justice system that puts safeguarding at its heart.

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

Baroness Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said: “The ruthless criminal exploitation of vulnerable children has been a brutal and lucrative business model for organised criminals for too long.

“It has had tragic consequences for thousands of young lives and has devastated families and communities.

“This change in the law is long overdue, very welcome, and will save lives.”

Mark Russell, chief executive at The Children’s Society, said this was a “vital step forward that we have been campaigning for over the years”.

“A standalone crime of CCE will finally shift the focus onto perpetrators, not victims,” he added.

“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.

“To protect the 14,500 children identified at risk last year – and the thousands more unseen – these measures must be backed by three pillars; strong enforcement, training for safeguarding professionals and a statutory definition of CCE to help end the postcode lottery in victim support.

“This is how we break cycles of harm: punish the exploiters, prioritise the victims, and put child safety first.”

The Crime and Policing Bill is set to be introduced in Parliament this week.