Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children went missing from care placements in each month from 1 April to 1 September 2020; and how many missing episodes they had.
Answered by Vicky Ford
This information is currently not available.
The latest figures on children looked after in England and on children missing from care or placed in out of area placements relates to the year ending 31 March 2019 are published in the statistical release, ‘Children Looked after in England including adoptions 2018-19’, which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.
Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2020 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children went missing from out of area care placements in each month from 1 April to 1 September 2020; and how many missing episodes each such child had.
Answered by Vicky Ford
This information is currently not available.
The latest figures on children looked after in England and on children missing from care or placed in out of area placements relates to the year ending 31 March 2019 are published in the statistical release, ‘Children Looked after in England including adoptions 2018-19’, which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.
Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2020 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the Government’s progress on meeting the objectives of the Missing Children and Adults Strategy 2011.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
People who go missing include some of the most vulnerable people in our society and the Government will do all it can to ensure those people are protected from harm.
The 2011 Missing Children and Adults Strategy provided a framework for local and national action to protect children and vulnerable adults who go missing. The Government has made significant progress in meeting the objectives of the strategy including by issuing new statutory guidance on missing children, placing new requirements on local authorities on the reporting of missing incidents, working with the College of Policing to develop new risk-based professional practice for police, and funding support for missing people and their families through charities like Missing People.
While plans to update the 2011 strategy are under consideration, we can and will go further to protect and support people who go missing. The Department for Education is working with the police, local authorities and the voluntary sector to consider how its statutory guidance is supporting local authorities and their partners to prevent children from going missing from home or care, and the Home Office is working with the national policing lead for Missing Persons and the NCA’s UK Missing Persons Unit to deliver a National Register for Missing Persons (NRMP) which will provide new functionality around the reporting of missing and associated found incidents across police force boundaries.
Protecting and supporting vulnerable missing people is also a key element of our action to tackle exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and county lines exploitation, given the clear links between people who go missing and these broader harms. This includes funding Missing People’s SafeCall service, a specialist 24/7 helpline which provides advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers concerned about county lines exploitation.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to update the Missing Children and Adults Strategy 2011.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
People who go missing include some of the most vulnerable people in our society and the Government will do all it can to ensure those people are protected from harm.
The 2011 Missing Children and Adults Strategy provided a framework for local and national action to protect children and vulnerable adults who go missing. The Government has made significant progress in meeting the objectives of the strategy including by issuing new statutory guidance on missing children, placing new requirements on local authorities on the reporting of missing incidents, working with the College of Policing to develop new risk-based professional practice for police, and funding support for missing people and their families through charities like Missing People.
While plans to update the 2011 strategy are under consideration, we can and will go further to protect and support people who go missing. The Department for Education is working with the police, local authorities and the voluntary sector to consider how its statutory guidance is supporting local authorities and their partners to prevent children from going missing from home or care, and the Home Office is working with the national policing lead for Missing Persons and the NCA’s UK Missing Persons Unit to deliver a National Register for Missing Persons (NRMP) which will provide new functionality around the reporting of missing and associated found incidents across police force boundaries.
Protecting and supporting vulnerable missing people is also a key element of our action to tackle exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and county lines exploitation, given the clear links between people who go missing and these broader harms. This includes funding Missing People’s SafeCall service, a specialist 24/7 helpline which provides advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers concerned about county lines exploitation.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of missing (a) adults and (b) children, were recorded as high risk in each month from 1 April 2020 to 1 September 2020.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Annual missing persons statistics, including analysis of age and risk category, are published by the National Crime Agency’s Missing Person’s Unit. The latest report is for 2018-19 and is available at https://www.missingpersons.police.uk/en-gb/resources/downloads/missing-persons-statistical-bulletins.
The Government recognises the importance of accurate and timely data on both current and historic missing incidents. We are working with the national policing lead for Missing Persons and the NCA’s UK Missing Persons Unit through the Home Office National Law Enforcement Data Programme (NLEDP) to deliver a National Register for Missing Persons (NRMP). The NRMP will provide a snapshot of live missing incidents across police forces in England and Wales.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason (a) religious marriages and (b) humanist marriages are subject to different restrictions on the number of people allowed to attend under restrictions on meeting in groups of more than six people, announced on 9 September 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We understand the significance that weddings hold in people’s lives. By their nature, weddings are events that bring families and friends together, so to minimise risks around transmission, a maximum of 15 people can attend a wedding. Humanist weddings can also take place with a maximum of 15 people present.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to bring forward flexible ticketing for rail travel in (a) the South East, (b) Kent and (c) Medway.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Government recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a fundamental change in working patterns and that this could have long-term effects on commuter behaviours.
In response, the Department for Transport has proactively worked with the rail industry, and is currently considering proposals received from train operators, including Southeastern who operate in the South East, Kent, and Medway, to try to ensure better value and convenience for part-time and flexible commuters.
These are unprecedented times and our immediate focus is on ensuring that we keep the railway available and safe for those who rely upon it.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the success of Train Operating Companies' flexible ticketing trials.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Some train companies have already introduced flexible products including c2c, Chiltern, East Midlands, Gatwick Express, Greater Anglia, Northern, South Western, Govia Thameslink Railway and West Midlands Railway. These differ in their terms and conditions, and are not available to all commuters. We are currently considering proposals received from train operators to try to deliver better value and convenience for part-time and all flexible commuters.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative assessment he has made of the effect of the the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2020 on christenings and humanist naming ceremonies.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The changes to the Regulations are to reduce social interaction of groups larger than six, in order to reduce transmission of COVID-19. The Regulations do not prevent life cycle events from taking place, but they are subject to the rule of six.
If a family chooses to have their life cycle event as a private ceremony, then the number of attendees must be capped at six people (unless everyone attending is from the same household or support bubble, where numbers may be higher). However, there are circumstances where life cycle events happen within the course of communal worship. In such circumstances, unless relevant exemptions apply, groups must not interact in a way which breaches the rule of six.
Where a life cycle event takes part within a communal worship service, attendees can only mingle with the groups of up to six people that they attend with and they will be subject to the restrictions and guidance for communal worship which can be found in the Guidance for the Safe Use of Places of Worship.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department applies to determine what goods qualify as essential health products.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not identify essential health products for policy purposes. It does, however, recognise a number of Category 1 goods – goods which are “critical to preservation of human or animal welfare and/or national security for the United Kingdom”.
The Department’s Category 1 products are human medicines, covering prescription-only, pharmacy and general sales list medicines, clinical trials and children’s vitamins; medical devices and clinical consumables; vaccines; nutritional specialist feeds, including infant milk formula and biological materials such as blood, organs, tissues and cells.