Jan. 15 2010
Source Page: Table showing how many cases of (a) UK national and (b) non-UK national missing persons of each age have been recorded by the Missing Persons Bureau in each year since 1997. 14 p.Found: Table showing how many cases of (a) UK national and (b) non-UK national missing persons of each age have
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of appointing cross-government leadership on the issue of missing persons.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the need for an effective multi-agency response to missing person investigations and we are clear in our ambition to reduce missing incidents and safeguard those vulnerable to going missing. Missing children and adults represent a concern which spans many cross-Governmental priorities and policy areas. The Home Office is committed to working with the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care and other relevant departments; sending a clear message that missing needs a whole-system response.
Repeat missing incidents are often a red flag for a number of the harms, such as child sexual or criminal exploitation. The Home Office is heavily invested in supporting and protecting vulnerable people, particularly children and young people from all forms of harm.
The Home Office and Department for Education have been supporting the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons in the development of a 'Missing Children from Care' framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. This framework outlines good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce missing incidents and (b) provide additional support to people at risk of going missing who are care experienced.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Effective multi-agency working is the key to reducing missing person incidents, particularly for vulnerable cohorts, such as children with care experience who are at more likely to go missing repeatedly.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice (APP), issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure that all safeguarding partners play a role in an investigation; this includes multi-agency enquiries. The APP for missing persons is publicly available on the College’s website.
In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons has developed the ‘Multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings’ framework, which is being rolled out, and the ‘Missing Children from Care’ framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. These frameworks outline good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
In response to concerns about unconscious bias in the police response to missing persons from BAME communities, the Home Office has funded the NPCC for Missing Persons to conduct research to explore disproportionality and discrimination in police missing persons investigations; comparing how risk is categorised in different ethnic groups. The final report is nearing completion. The NPCC lead for Missing Persons is committed to working with partner agencies to understand issues of disproportionality and addressing any issues. I will continue to monitor developments and insights from partners to ensure our response remains effective.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce missing incidents and (b) provide additional support to people at risk of going missing from BAME communities.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Effective multi-agency working is the key to reducing missing person incidents, particularly for vulnerable cohorts, such as children with care experience who are at more likely to go missing repeatedly.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice (APP), issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure that all safeguarding partners play a role in an investigation; this includes multi-agency enquiries. The APP for missing persons is publicly available on the College’s website.
In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons has developed the ‘Multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings’ framework, which is being rolled out, and the ‘Missing Children from Care’ framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. These frameworks outline good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
In response to concerns about unconscious bias in the police response to missing persons from BAME communities, the Home Office has funded the NPCC for Missing Persons to conduct research to explore disproportionality and discrimination in police missing persons investigations; comparing how risk is categorised in different ethnic groups. The final report is nearing completion. The NPCC lead for Missing Persons is committed to working with partner agencies to understand issues of disproportionality and addressing any issues. I will continue to monitor developments and insights from partners to ensure our response remains effective.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing guidance to police forces advising them to offer independent return home interviews to adults who have been missing.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Any missing person incident, especially when a person is vulnerable or has been missing previously, significantly increases the risk of harm occurring, and the Home Office continues to work with partners on the issue.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice (APP), issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales. This includes steps to be taken when a person returns from a missing incident and considerations regarding police prevention interviews and return interviews. More importantly, the APP offers advice on how information disclosed in a return interview should be fed into multi-agency safeguarding decisions. The APP for missing persons is publicly available on the College's website.
In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Missing Persons has developed the 'Multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings' framework, which currently is being rolled out. The framework outlines good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing person incident. The framework aims to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person and sets out how return conversations can improve safeguarding outcomes for vulnerable adults and prevent future incidents.
The Government recognises the need for an effective multi-agency response to missing person investigations. We will continue to work closely across Government Departments to achieve this aim.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a cross-Departmental body with responsibility for missing person investigations, in the context of the multi-agency responsibilities for those investigations.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the need for an effective multi-agency response to missing person investigations.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice (APP), issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure that all safeguarding partners play a role in an investigation. This includes multi-agency enquiries. The APP for missing persons is publicly available on the College’s website.
In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Missing Persons has developed the ‘Multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings’ framework, which is being rolled out, and the ‘Missing Children from Care’ framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. These frameworks outline good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to reduce the number of repeat missing incidents amongst children.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the need for an effective multi-agency response to missing person investigations and we are clear in our ambition to reduce missing incidents and safeguard those vulnerable to going missing. Missing children and adults represent a concern which spans many cross-Governmental priorities and policy areas. The Home Office is committed to working with the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care and other relevant departments; sending a clear message that missing needs a whole-system response.
Repeat missing incidents are often a red flag for a number of the harms, such as child sexual or criminal exploitation. The Home Office is heavily invested in supporting and protecting vulnerable people, particularly children and young people from all forms of harm.
The Home Office and Department for Education have been supporting the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons in the development of a 'Missing Children from Care' framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. This framework outlines good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what long term support the Government plans to provide the International Commission on Missing Persons to support their work in identifying those still missing from (a) the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and (b) the Genocide at Srebrenica.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports post-conflict reconciliation in the Western Balkans, through diplomatic and programmatic efforts. This has included funding for the International Commission on Missing Persons for work in the Western Balkans, including for Regional Co-operation through the Missing Persons Group. The UK allocated £150,000 to the International Commission on Missing Persons for the period 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2025. The UK does not currently have plans for funding beyond this period.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding the Government plans to provide to Regional Co-operation in Accounting for Missing Persons in the Western Balkans (The Missing Person Group) of the International Commission on Missing Persons in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 financial years.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports post-conflict reconciliation in the Western Balkans, through diplomatic and programmatic efforts. This has included funding for the International Commission on Missing Persons for work in the Western Balkans, including for Regional Co-operation through the Missing Persons Group. The UK allocated £150,000 to the International Commission on Missing Persons for the period 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2025. The UK does not currently have plans for funding beyond this period.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Cypriot authorities on both sides to reveal the locations of buried missing people.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We share the concerns of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities over the missing persons following the events of 1974. We support the crucial work being undertaken by the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) by enabling them to work from a British-owned site in the Buffer Zone at minimal cost. Their work is crucial in bringing closure for the many families affected.