§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children up to the age of 16 years have disappeared within the UK during each of the last five years and have not been found. [51647]
§ Mr. DenhamMissing persons are reported to the Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB) after they have been missing for 14 days or more. The PNMPB currently record missing children figures in the category of under 18 years. However, until the period 1999–2000 the age range of 'up to and including 18 years of age' was used. The following are the figures of those reported missing using the above mentioned categories, for the last five financial years:
Total 1997–98 938 1998–99 1,184 1999–2000 1,467 2000–01 1,021 2001–02 1,037 Of those cases, the PNMPB database currently shows a total of 468 outstanding unresolved cases.