MP Welcomes action to support young Runaways

Ann Coffey MP has welcomed the announcement of fresh government action to help the 600 Stockport children who runaway or go missing every year.

The Government has unveiled a new cross-Government working group, which will draw up an action plan to provide a national safety net to protect young runaways.

At the moment provision for runaways is unpredictable and varies from county to county as there is no co-ordinated national network of support to help protect children and rebuild their lives. There are only 10 emergency beds in the whole of the UK, with none in Stockport or Greater Manchester.

But now ministers from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Home Office and the Department of Health will join forces with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Directors of Children’s Services to produce a national action plan in June.

The working group will review the scant provision for emergency accommodation and will also issue fresh guidance for local authorities about how to provide support to runaways and how to collect data which can be of use nationally.

The move comes after pressure from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children, of which Ann Coffey is Secretary, and many years of campaigning by the Children’s Society.

Research by the Children’s Society shows that most of the 86,000 who run away from home or care nationally every year are fleeing family conflict, neglect and abuse. Girls aged 14 to 15 are the most likely to run.

Once these children run away they are often forced to sleep rough or with strangers and are at greater risk of sexual exploitation, violence and drug taking.

Ann Coffey said: “This initiative will help protect the 600 children in Stockport; the 4,400 in Greater Manchester and tens of thousands in other parts of the country, who runaway from home or children’s homes each year. I am determined that every child should have a place where they can feel safe and cared for.

“The announcement of a cross-Government working group to take responsibility for this group of vulnerable children is fantastic news.

“It will ensure that every young person has access to the help and support they need to not only safeguard those who run away but, where possible, to prevent them from leaving in the first place”.