Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support Surrey County Council to improve support for children who go missing or are at risk of exploitation.

Following support from the department and others, Surrey County Council's children's services were judged by Ofsted to be ‘Good’ in March 2025.

Statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ (2023), is clear that children at risk of or experiencing harm from outside their home should receive a multi-agency safeguarding response, recognising threats may arise from school, peer groups, online or the wider community.

In 2023, we published a set of multi-agency practice principles to guide local areas in their response to keeping children and young people safe from child exploitation and extra-familial harm. The principles bring together the best available evidence in this area and have been developed through extensive consultation with professionals, children, young people, parents and carers. These principles are available here: https://tce.researchinpractice.org.uk/.

Our Families First Partnership Programme, backed by over £500 million investment per year over the next three years, is rolling out reforms to family help and multi-agency child protection, including where harm is outside the home.

We expect safeguarding partners to work together to reduce the chances of children going missing, to respond effectively when they do and understand why.

We have provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing.