Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children went missing from care in each of the last five years; how many incidents there were; and what proportion of missing children were subsequently found.

The department published bold and ambitious plans to reform children’s social care on the 2 February 2023 through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. It sets out how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.

Missing incident are always deeply concerning. The vast majority, 90%, of incidents where a child reportedly goes missing last for 2 days or less. Figures on the number of children looked after who went missing from care, including the number of missing incidents, and those who are still missing on 31 March, were published for the year ending 31 March 2018 to the year ending 31 March 2022 in the table ‘Official Statistics - CLA who were missing from placement’ in the annual ‘Children looked after in England, including adoptions, 2022’ statistical release. The table is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c7b14397-1e84-48d2-7c2b-08db63adc612.

Missing incidents were reported for 12,150 of CLA (11%) in 2022. There were 76,890 missing incidents. The number of children still missing from placement at 31 March was 220. A child may have had multiple missing incidents during a year that may have been resolved, only to conclude with a further incident that results in the child being missing again on 31 March.