#iwill Week 2025: What Do You Stand For? – An Annual Celebration of Young People, Ambassadors, Changemakers, and Partners Leading Change Across the UK

  1. Genuine Futures
  2. County Lines Report 2025: Stable Threat, Rising Social Media Exploitation, and the Urgent Need for Prevention

County Lines Report 2025: Stable Threat, Rising Social Media Exploitation, and the Urgent Need for Prevention

Posted on: 24th October 2025 | 4 min

Published: 21st October 2025

The Annual County Lines Report 2025, released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), reveals that while the overall County Lines threat remains stable, the business model used by perpetrators continues to evolve.

For communities across the UK — including Bolton, Greater Manchester, and the North West — the findings confirm what many already know: child criminal exploitation, violence, and grooming remain central to County Lines, even as traffickers adapt to policing and technological disruption.

Five Key Findings from the County Lines Report 2025

  1. Stable threat but ongoing risk. County Lines operations remain widespread, with consistent numbers of lines and drug types.
  2. Violent crime link. 73.5% of County Lines offenders are known for violence or weapons offences, confirming the link between drug supply and knife crime.
  3. Children exploited. At least 2,659 children were officially recorded as exploited, though as many as 11,600 children go missing annually and may be at risk.
  4. Policing disruption. More than 6,000 arrests and a record 2,300 County Lines closures since July 2024 demonstrate progress.
  5. Reduction in hospital admissions. A 38% drop in under-25 admissions for knife injuries in exporter regions (Metropolitan, Merseyside, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire).

How County Lines Tactics Are Evolving

  • Social Media Lines: Use of encrypted apps, social media platforms, and postal networks to distribute cannabis and party drugs like ketamine.
  • Traditional Lines Persist: Heroin and crack cocaine remain the primary drugs in urban-to-rural distribution.
  • Cuckooing Vulnerable Adults: 44% of victims were women, many with mental health or substance misuse issues.
  • Exploitation of 15–17 Year Old Boys: Still the most common recruits for distribution roles, though girls and younger children are also affected.

Despite changes in method, exploitation, coercion, and violence remain intrinsic to County Lines.

Enforcement Alone Cannot Solve County Lines

The report highlights impressive enforcement outcomes: 6,000+ arrests and 2,300 line closures. But enforcement addresses symptoms, not causes.

County Lines thrives on:

  • Poverty
  • Trauma
  • School exclusion
  • Lack of opportunity

Without tackling these root causes, exploitation will persist, and perpetrators will continue to adapt.

Genuine Futures’ Response

At Genuine Futures CIC in Bolton, we work daily with children and young people most at risk of County Lines exploitation. Our approach focuses on prevention, enterprise, and opportunity:

  • We Shine Any Car: A youth-led car wash and vehicle maintenance enterprise providing hands-on skills, teamwork, and income.
  • Boss Your Future Programme: Supporting 15–24-year-olds (up to 25 with SEND) with coaching, employability skills, and enterprise training.
  • Restore Young Futures: Alternative provision for 12–15-year-olds at risk of exclusion, offering pathways back into education and community engagement.
  • The Young Futures Hub: A safe, open-door space for young people to find belonging, reduce isolation, and access mentoring, wellbeing, and opportunity.

This is what real prevention looks like — building hope, resilience, and skills that criminal networks cannot offer.

Youth Voices

“I was isolated in my bedroom. Now I’ve got a reason to get up, a team, and a future.”

“I thought I had no options, but now I’m building my own business.”

These are the voices missing from the County Lines report — voices that remind us that behind every statistic is a young person with potential.

At Genuine Futures, we believe that within every young person is a hidden entrepreneur. Too many are overlooked, written off, or never given a chance.

Why Prevention Matters

  • Knife crime reduction must go hand in hand with opportunities that stop young people from ever picking up a knife.
  • County Lines exploitation can only be disrupted long-term if children are given real alternatives.
  • Mental health and belonging are as important as employment pathways — because connection and purpose prevent exploitation.

A Call to Action

The County Lines Review 2025 should not just be read as numbers but as a call to act differently:

  • The government must invest in prevention, youth hubs, and enterprise-based programmes.
  • Local Authorities should partner with organisations rooted in lived experience.
  • Businesses must step up with work experience, apprenticeships, and mentoring.
  • Communities need to see young people as assets, not threats.

County Lines is not just a policing issue — it is a social issue, an opportunity issue, and a hope issue.

Conclusion

The Annual County Lines Report (21st October 2025) shows a threat that remains stable but also evolving. Policing is adapting, but so too are perpetrators.

The answer is not only enforcement. It is prevention, empowerment, and opportunity. At Genuine Futures, we will continue to stand alongside young people in Bolton and beyond, proving that with the right support, they can shine. Because when young people shine, communities shine.

Join Us in Tackling County Lines
Support our programmes, refer a young person, or partner with us: www.genuinefutures.co.uk

#CountyLines #KnifeCrime #YouthEmpowerment #ChildExploitation #YoungFuturesHub #WeShineAnyCar #BossYourFuture #RestoreYoungFutures #GenuineFutures #Bolton #HiddenEntrepreneurs

https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/annual-county-lines-report-threat-remains-stable-but-business-model-used-by-perpetrators-continues-to-evolve

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