Written question asked by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 March 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 March 2011. It was answered by James Brokenshire (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 March 2011 on behalf of the Home Office.

Missing Persons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many records there are relating to people aged under 18 on the Missing Persons database.

Answer: On 2 March 2011, the National Policing Improvement Agency's (NPIA) Missing Persons Bureau database Hermes held 509 records of missing incidents involving individuals currently under the age of 18. Police forces are required to notify the bureau of missing people who have not returned within 72 hours of the initial report to the police. Please note these numbers relate to incidents and not individuals.The Hermes database is an operational database used for policing purposes and it may contain records for individuals who have been found by the force but that have not yet been updated on the database. The data are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Secondary information