During a question on the capacity of police forces to investigate serious violent crime, I made the point that collaboration across force boundaries is clearly crucial in helping the police not only to investigate, but to tackle serious violent crime head on. Further, I enquired, what steps are being taken to help promote this collaboration - not least because Northamptonshire has been at the cutting-edge of this work. The Minister agreed that this is a fundamental point, that goes to the heart of how crime and the demands on policing are changing and are increasingly not respecting borders. Specifically, on ‘county lines’, he explained that the Government have supported the police with a multimillion-pound investment in a new co-ordination centre that is already resulting in increased arrests and increased numbers of safeguarded children. This is a great step forward, and we must continue to move in this direction, with many other areas able to learn lessons from Northamptonshire.