Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Tuesday, 7 June 2005.

Missing Children

Question: My Lords, is the Minister aware that the End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) organisation pointed out in a recent report entitled Cause for Concern that information on child trafficking is very hard to find? It points out that information is extremely important in order to set up appropriate services. I am sure that the Minister is aware that the only support for trafficked people is for women who are subject to prostitution. There is very little support, if any, for children. Will the Minister set up a system for collecting information to be shared with appropriate professionals about children who are trafficked so that appropriate services can be set up?

Answer: My Lords, the multi-agency working we have set in place seeks to address many of those issues. I am sure the noble Baroness will agree that it is only by having a holistic approach to this matter and making sure agencies interlink appropriately with each other to create that safety net that we will get the kind of care that we want. We therefore hope that the multi-agency approach that has been put in place, together with the work that has been done across government with the DfES, will ensure that we have better information and that we are better able to identify if children are being trafficked, by whom and where to.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 672 c772-3
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Children Greater London Protection Missing persons Schools Afro-Caribbeans Boys