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24 March 2010
New measures to help missing people and their families were outlined in a report by the missing person’s taskforce today.
The taskforce's report proposes a number of new recommendations including:
- a national model of information-sharing to facilitate better sharing of data between police, local authorities, charities and health services on missing individuals
- a single point of contact for families in police forces, local authorities and health authorities, ensuring families and practitioners know where to turn and that there is a joined-up response
- better training for police, social workers, charity case workers and health professionals to deal with missing people and their families
All the recommendations have been accepted by the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister (who jointly launched the taskforce in December) and will now be developed into an action plan.
'A strong, coordinated response’
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, 'The government accepts fully all the recommendations of this report by the missing persons taskforce. These include plans to make sure families are getting the right support and making sure all the agencies involved in dealing with missing people, such as charities, police and health practitioners, are sharing information with each other.'
Home Office minister Alan Campbell, who chairs the taskforce, said, 'A strong, coordinated response is essential from all partners. There is more to do, but these recommendations are an important step in the right direction.'
Alongside these improvements the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) will assume responsibility for missing and abducted children from the Missing Person’s Bureau.
Around 140,000 of the missing are children and young people. Most return safely within a short time, but a significant number run away from abuse and have nowhere safe to return. As part of the improvements, CEOP will pilot a service with police forces to help review long-term missing children cases.
