Funding cut concerns for missing people

Withdrawal of government funding may prevent the Missing People charity from continuing its work as well as putting the Police Missing Person’s Bureau (MPB) at risk.

Every year, 250,000 people are reported missing in the UK, around 140,000 of whom are children or young people. The Missing People’s Runaway helpline received 58,895 calls, emails and texts last year.

Missing People received £500,000 of government funding, 25 per cent of its total revenue. The £500,000 was split into £150,000 from the Department of Education for the maintenance of a 24 hour helpline for runaways, and £350,000 from the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). That funding has now been withdrawn.

The forthcoming closure of the NPIA in 2012 will mean that their MPB, in its current form, will no longer be able to work alongside the police and related organisations to improve the services provided to missing persons investigations.

Ann Coffey MP this week called on the Government to provide reassurance that missing persons will continue to receive the support it deserves. In a Parliamentary debate this week, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, said the Government was committed to the issue.

Mr Brokenshire said that while the Government could not commit itself to providing scarce funding, it would look to help the charity, Missing People in any other way.

He added that the Government was yet to make any final decisions regarding the future of the MPB, particularly with regards to the creation of the National Crime Agency.

The NPIA’s MPB is the only agency in the UK to keep records of unidentified bodies. It currently has records of 940 unidentified bodies found in the last 50 years and receives around ten new cases per month.

It primarily cross matches missing persons with unidentified persons or bodies but also maintain records of missing persons and unidentified persons/bodies to provide an investigative support service to police. The MPB also manages and co-ordinates the Child Rescue Alert which works to find abducted children quickly through the use of the media.

It acts as the UK national and international contact point for all missing persons cases.

Ms Coffey sad that the MPB conducts hundreds of cross match searches and that those searches must continue so that families are not left wondering what has happened to victims.

She said that by closing down the MPB and withdrawing funding for Missing People, the Government was “sending out the message to perpetrators of evil crimes that we will not stand up to protect the most vulnerable.”

Ms Coffey suggested that the Government set up a national missing persons database and that the police should be encouraged to work with other agencies, such as children’s services to share information which could prevent people from going missing in the first place.

She also called for legislation to be put in place.

“There is automatic emotional, legal and practical support if your house is burgled but if your child goes missing, you may get nothing and yet you are surely a victim,” she said.