Runaway Children

(asked on 12th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have gone missing from care homes in each of the last five years.


Answered by
Robert Goodwill Portrait
Robert Goodwill
This question was answered on 18th October 2017

Information on the numbers of children recorded as missing from care homes during the year and the number who were recorded as missing at the end of March in a given year are shown in the table attached. These statistics are based on data collected for the first time in 2015, and should be treated with caution as local authorities’ recording of this information is improving over time. The figures are therefore not comparable between years and the information provided does not mean that the number of missing incidents is increasing in the volumes indicated below. Information for earlier years is not available.

Local authorities have improved their reporting of missing incidents through increased collaboration with partner organisations and carers, updated recording systems, and further training for carers to improve understanding of reporting processes.

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