Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they have provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for the purpose of the Operation Grange investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann since its launch in May 2011; what estimate they have made of the total cost of that operation to date; and how much has been spent on investigations into other missing children since May 2011.

The Home Office has awarded £11.75 million to cover the costs of Operation Grange up until March 2019. A request for further funding until the end of March 2020 has been received, the costs of which will be assessed against the Special Grant Award criteria. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-funding-special-grant-guidance/special-grant-guidance). A decision will be made in October.

The Home Office has previously provided £1.1 million of Special Grant funding to South Yorkshire Police to meet the additional costs of the investigation into the disappearance of Ben Needham. We do not hold information on spending on other missing children investigations as these are funded locally by police forces.