HC Deb 08 January 2003 vol 397 cc256-7WS
Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a common reporting procedure for police services for missing persons. [88190]

Mr. Denham

There is an agreed procedure: details of all missing persons should be recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) as soon as possible and in any case within 48 hours of their disappearance.

Notification of all outstanding missing persons should be sent to the Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB), based at New Scotland Yard, within 14 days. Most missing persons are found locally within this period. Forces will not, however, be precluded from forwarding information to the PNMPB in a shorter time if a particular case appears to warrant more urgent attention.

Details of unidentified persons or bodies found should be reported to the PNMPB within 48 hours of being found.