Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish new police guidance on locating missing asylum-seeking children.

Police guidance is a matter for the College of Policing, which is operationally independent of the Home Office. The Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for missing persons is publicly available on the College’s website and sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations, including missing migrant children, for police forces in England and Wales.

In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Missing Persons is developing advice for forces on the police response to missing migrant children. Other safeguarding agencies and third sector organisations are involved in drafting this advice which should be published this Spring, subject to consultation with relevant partners