In the Sunday Times today, the above video, and:

The UK’s county lines networks have evolved into a sophisticated business model that thrives on the exploitation of the young. David Collins, Northern Editor of The Sunday Times, and David Woode, Crime Editor of The Times, go inside a police disruption unit in North Yorkshire to witness high-stakes raids targeting the “line holders” who pull the strings from a single mobile phone. Beyond the arrests, they uncover a disturbing tactical shift where gangs use the Modern Slavery Act as a legal shield for their recruits. It is a portrait of a relentless cycle where, as soon as one line is severed, another rises to meet the demand of a market now flooded with lethal synthetic alternatives.

What do schools have to do with this?

With 5 to 6 times as many temporary school exclusions and 900 times as many permanent exclusions, per head, than Scotland, England’s schools are in a deep crisis fuelling County Lines gangs and street violence

There were 11 676 temporary and 1 permanent exclusion from Scotland’s school in 2022/2023, the most recent figures.¹

Now, I know some don’t want to see comparisons with other parts of the UK. ‘I don’t live in England’, they’ll shout, but I feel you you don’t always know what you’ve got until you see what others have got or have not got.

So, all things being equal with 10 times the population, England might be expected to have around 120 000 temporary exclusions and 10 permanent exclusions?

It had 786 961 and 9 376.² 5 to 6 times as many temporary exclusions and more than 900 times as many permanent exclusions!

In addition to the immediate and obvious consequences of such a phenomenon, what other consequences might there be?

Pupils excluded from school are at a “heightened risk” of being drawn into county lines drugs gangs, an official report warns. Police officers “reported a strong link between school exclusion and becoming a target for county lines criminals”, according to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. ³

Knife crime: Excluded pupils ‘sucked into criminality’ – Theresa May is being warned that a “broken” system of support for troubled and excluded youngsters lies at the heart of a rise in knife crime. Police commissioners and London’s mayor have written to the PM saying pupils, both formally and informally excluded, are being “sucked into criminality”.⁴

Imagine this was the other way round. Imagine the Scottish media coverage.

Sources:

1. https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-exclusion-statistics/
2. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2022-23
3. https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/strong-link-between-exclusions-and-drugs-gangs
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47470502