§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what authorities are informed with regard to the disappearance of a child within the UK. [51646]
§ Mr. DenhamAt present, all missing person cases reported to the police should be submitted to the Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB) if the individual has been missing for 14 days or longer.
The Home Office is currently working with key stakeholders within the area of missing persons, which includes the police and the National Missing Persons Helpline, in order to develop and implement measures to increase co-operation and information sharing between Government departments, and statutory and non-statutory agencies. A bid to the Invest to Save Budget (ISB), to put in place a new system for handling missing person cases, has been successful. This work is being taken forward by the Cross-Departmental Group on missing persons which is chaired by the Home Office.