§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (I) whether he is satisfied that the most modern computerised methods are in use throughout the United Kingdom for the tracing of missing persons;
(2) whether he will institute an inquiry into current methods for the tracing of missing persons and to consider ways in which they may be improved.
§ Mr. Mellor[pursuant to his reply, 21 February 1983, c. 308]: According to the circumstance of the case, a number of voluntary bodies and Government Departments may be able to assist in the tracing of missing persons.
The methods and equipment which police forces use to trace missing persons are for each chief officer of police to determine. This matter was fully considered by a working party of the Association of Chief Police Officers between 1973 and 1975. We understand from the Commissioner that the Metropolitan police missing persons bureau, to which forces may, but are not required to, notify persons reported as missing, currently operates a manually-based index but that a study is to be carried out to assess the feasibility of converting to a computer-based system. We have no plans to institute any more general inquiry into the methods used, which are the responsibility of the Departments and organisations concerned.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many men, women, boys and girls, respectively, were reported missing in England, Wales and Scotland in each of the last 10 years for which records are available; and what were their age categories;
(2) how many missing persons in each age category were traced in each of the last 10 years for which records are available; and after what average period;
(3) what information he has as to how many men, women, boys and girls, respectively, were reported missing in the county and city of Leicester in each of the last 10 years for which records are available; and what were their age categories;
(4) what information he has as to how many men, women, boys and girls, respectively, were reported missing in London and inner London in each of the last 10 years for which records are available; and what were their age categories.
§ Mr. Mellor[pursuant to his reply, 21 February 1983, c. 308]: Comprehensive statistics on missing persons are not collected centrally; thus information for Leicestershire or for Great Britain as a whole is available only at disproportionate cost.
We understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the available information from the missing persons bureau in the Metropolitan police district is as given in the following tables. These figures are not a comprehensive record of persons from outside the Metropolitan police district missing and traced because other forces are not required to report to the missing persons bureau cases of missing juveniles or vulnerable 219W adults and do not report to the bureau cases relating to non-vulnerable adults. No information is readily available on the length of search, apart from that implied by the final column of table 1.
Table 1 Persons* recorded as missing from the Metropolitan police district—including those outstanding from previous years¶ Metropolitan Police District Number of persons* Year Fully recorded in the Missing Persons Bureau and locally Recorded locally only‡ (estimated) Juveniles and vulnerable adults† Non-vulnerable adults Total fully recorded Male Female Male Female Under 14 14–17 18+ Total Under 14 14–17 18+ Total 1973 273 727 409 1,409 224 1,395 379 1,998 — — 3,407 — 1974 321 798 413 1,532 237 1,513 388 2,138 — — 3,670 — 1975 330 798 452 1,580 337 1,524 382 2,243 549 653 5,025 — 1976 317 788 391 1,496 292 1,560 401 2,253 811 956 5,516 17,000 1977 353 807 505 1,665 363 1,730 485 2,578 730 817 5,790 18,000 1978 288 903 579 1,770 263 1,749 611 2,623 785 936 6,114 19,000 1979 330 899 679 1,908 203 1,668 745 2,616 740 881 6,145 17,000 1980 315 1,097 791 2,203 258 1,794 847 2,899 536 630 6,268 21,000 1981 288 881 846 2,015 264 1,398 834 2,496 528 589 5,628 21,000 1982 393 1,390 1,120 2,903 280 1,846 998 3,124 342 356 6,725 21,000
Table 2 Persons* recorded as missing from the Metropolitan police district and traced or identified¶ Metropolitan Police District Number of persons* Year Juveniles and vulnerable adults† Non-vunerable adults Grand total Male Female Male Female Under 14 14–17 18+ Total Under 14 14–17 18+ Total 1973 263 688 364 1,315 215 1,302 349 1,866 — — 3,181 1974 297 711 347 1,355 215 1,392 338 1,945 — — 3,300 1975 289 707 392 1,388 299 1,331 337 1,967 295 430 4,080 1976 260 684 326 1,270 259 1,367 346 1,972 591 711 4,544 1977 330 755 411 1,496 324 1,586 420 2,330 489 524 4,839 1978 257 839 462 1,558 232 1,596 524 2,352 529 630 5,069 1979 294 850 555 1,699 172 1,528 636 2,336 556 610 5,201 1980 255 999 622 1,876 184 1,593 701 2,478 386 444 5,184 1981 218 804 680 1,702 203 1,281 672 2,156 357 407 4,622 1982 258 1,249 889 2,396 165 1,542 748 2,455 254 256 5,361 220W221W
Table 3 Juveniles and vulnerable adults* recorded as missing from outside the Metropolitan police district including overseas•—including those outstanding from previous years¶ United Kingdom other than MPD and overseas Number of persons* Year Juveniles and vulnerable adults† Grand Total Male Female Under 14 14–17 18+ Total Under 14 14–17 18+ Total 1973 26 116 415 557 29 327 267 623 1,180 1974 29 136 536 701 27 293 327 647 1,348 1975 29 119 529 677 23 240 297 560 1,237 1976 30 101 625 756 24 220 322 566 1,322 1977 100 248 775 1,123 51 413 436 900 2,023 1978 36 144 917 1,097 34 326 544 904 2,001 1979 37 167 980 1,184 23 265 542 830 2,014 1980 47 168 1,075 1,290 16 214 555 785 2,075 1981 45 169 1,175 1,389 19 169 595 783 2,172 1982 53 164 1,216 1,433 40 174 563 777 2,210
Table 4 Juveniles and vulnerable adults* recorded as missing from outside the Metropolitan police district including overseas• and traced or identified|| United Kingdom other than MPD and overseas Number of persons* Year Juveniles and vulnerable adults† Grand Total Male Female Under 14 14–17 18+ Total Under 14 14–17 18+ Total 1973 14 81 137 232 21 239 127 387 619 1974 15 87 188 290 14 219 162 395 685 1975 13 80 175 268 10 173 134 317 585 1976 11 54 197 262 10 135 122 267 529 1977 75 180 260 515 32 283 212 527 1,042 1978 30 108 265 403 22 257 225 504 907 1979 19 126 254 399 11 219 204 434 833 1980 19 108 213 340 3 151 157 311 651 1981 22 130 237 389 5 140 167 312 701 1982 25 95 256 376 6 124 114 244 620 Footnotes for all tables: * The same person may be reported missing more than once. † "Vunerable adults" include the elderly, the sick and those whose manner of disappearance gave cause for special concern. Cases resolved within 48 hours are not normally fully recorded in the Missing Persons Bureau. || All persons traced or identified during the year irrespective of the year in which first reported missing. ¶ Persons recorded as missing at the end of the year plus those traced or identified during the year. • Other forces are not required to report to the Missing Persons Bureau cases of missing juveniles or vulnerable adults and do not report to the bureau cases relating to non-vulnerable adults. — Not available.