County lines and the criminal exploitation of children and young people: An exploratory and critical study of children and young people in the local

authority care system in Cumbria (continuation from the title).

Children and young people placed in local authority care are widely regarded as being at disproportionate risk of being criminally exploited by gangs and so-called county line drug dealers. Since 2015, the number of children and young people taken into local authority care has increased by 12 per cent, from just under 70,000 to nearly 80,000. This increase is predominantly accounted for by adolescents, with the number of children and young people in local authority care in the age groups '10-15' and '16 and over' increasing 18 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. This has coincided with an 80% increase in children and young people being placed in unregulated care homes by their local authority. Placements in unregulated settings with limited adult oversight and professional support and often a large distance away from their relationships and support networks, further increase the risk of harm and criminal exploitation. Through in-depth interviews with children and young people in the 'care system' and experts and practitioners from a range of key stakeholders and by gathering robust statistical data, this research will critically examine the system response to the exploitation of children and young people in local authority care in county lines drugs networks. In doing so, the research will contribute to theoretical debates in critical youth studies and contextual safeguarding and make recommendations which will address failures within the care provision for children and young people placed in the care of the local authority.