Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to prevent children from going missing; and if she will make an assessment of the reasons that children go (a) temporarily and (b) permanently missing.

The government takes the issue of any child going missing, either from home or from local authority care, extremely seriously.

Local authorities must record statistics for all children who go missing from care. The department publishes these figures annually as part of the wider suite of statistics on looked after children.

There are many reasons why children go missing, including to return to their homes or home areas. In 2022, data showed that the vast majority (90%) of missing incidents lasted for two days or less. The data also showed a higher proportion of children go missing from children's homes and semi-independent living arrangements, than from foster placements.

The department’s statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care outlines local authorities’ responsibilities to all missing children. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-who-run-away-or-go-missing-from-home-or-care. It requires that every children’s home has clear procedures in place to prevent children from going missing. The guidance empowers and encourages children’s homes to challenge local authorities where they are not providing the input and services a child needs, such as offering detailed interviews when a child has returned from being missing.