The number of missing children at risk of harm has surged while the Tories fail to deliver on a safeguarding vow they made ten years ago.
The broken promise to introduce a national missing persons database means police cannot see if a missing person they pick up has a history of disappearing in other parts of the country.
And welfare charities warn this increases the risk of vulnerable youngsters suffering long-term sexual abuse or exploitation by criminal groups including county lines drug gangs.
There were 193,000 recorded incidents involving missing kids in 2019-20 – up 50% on the previous five years – and 17,000 were flagged as involving sexual exploitation.
Yet ministers will not say when the Government’s missing persons strategy will be updated.
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Iryna Pona, policy and research manager at The Children’s Society, said: “More children are being exploited by county lines drugs dealing as well as for sexual abuse.
“These can lead to children going missing.” She said it was essential to introduce the database and ensure all missing children are monitored by an independent professional when they go home.
Susannah Drury, director of policy and development at charity Missing People, added: “A national missing persons register would make national data collection and analysis easier.
That could help police better understand patterns of missing children across different areas.”
A report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in 2016 – the same year an updated strategy was due to be unveiled – slammed the “unacceptable inconsistencies” in the way different police forces handled missing children cases.
It added: “These inconsistencies are leaving children unprotected and at risk of serious harm.”
The Home Office said it is improving the quality of missing persons data police can access.
A spokesman added: “We are working with the police, the National Crime Agency and other experts to improve our response and reduce the risk.”
