Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to better equip local police forces to ensure the safe return of missing children.

The Government is committed to ensuring that police forces are equipped to respond appropriately urgently when children go missing, and that missing people and their families receive the best possible protection and support.

The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice, issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure the safe return of missing children.

The National Police Chief’s Council has also developed a ‘Missing Children from Care Framework’ which aims to ensure that children in care receive appropriate and timely responses when their whereabouts are unknown. This should reduce the risk of harm; help return the child to their care setting; and, reduce the likelihood of repeat missing incidents.

The new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection will also improve the response to missing children by developing best practices and delivering training to officers across a range of vulnerabilities.

Recognising that many children go missing as a result of county lines exploitation, we are also providing specialist support for children and young people to escape county lines and child criminal exploitation, and this includes funding Missing People’s SafeCall service, which provides a national, confidential helpline and support for young people, families and carers who are concerned about county lines exploitation.