Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 April 2018 to Question 134364, on runaway children, how many looked-after children placed in children’s homes (a) inside and (b) outside the borough of the authority responsible for their care were reported missing.

Information on the number of missing incidents of looked after children in children’s homes by the location of the placement is shown in the attached table.

These statistics are experimental statistics based on data collected for the first time in 2015 and should be treated with caution as local councils’ recording of this information is improving over time. The figures are therefore not comparable between years and any assessment of trends should take this into account. The information provided does not mean that the number of children going missing is increasing in the volumes indicated in the table.

Local councils 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.