02 May 2025

The Crime and Policing Bill is a monster—running to 317 pages and with 137 clauses! Helpfully, Michael Zander KC, NLJ columnist and Emeritus Professor, LSE, has summarised the key provisions. In this week’s NLJ, he presents part one of his guide.
The Bill is wide-ranging, introducing many new offences from ‘cuckooing’ to child criminal exploitation—Prof Zander reports ‘it is estimated that over 14,000 children are exploited annually in this way’, for example, being used to steal or to move drugs.
The Bill introduces a duty to report child sexual abuse, implementing a recommendation of the 2022 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, and makes it an offence to possess or supply a SIM farm.RELATED ARTICLES