I, too, congratulate Fulton MacGregor on securing this important debate and take the opportunity to welcome our guests in the gallery. It is clear from the debate that the important issue of missing persons touches the lives of many thousands of people across Scotland, in each of our constituencies. I thank all members for their thoughtful contributions.
The debate has highlighted just how devastating the consequences can be when a person is feeling low or vulnerable. Thankfully, the vast majority of those who go missing come back safe and well, as has been noted. However, that does not ease the pain for those tragic cases in which that does not happen, such as the on-going agony of the family of Moira Anderson and the tragic case of Sean McKenna, which were both mentioned by Fulton MacGregor.
Earlier today, I met Police Scotland as it published the missing persons statistics for 2017-18. As has been mentioned, in the past 12 months Police Scotland has conducted 22,966 investigations for people who were missing—the equivalent of 63 per day. Worryingly, that figure has risen from last year. However, it is important to note that, thanks to the efforts of police and others, 89 per cent of those who were missing returned within two days and 99 per cent returned within three weeks.
It is comforting to know that the vast majority of those who have been missing return safe and well, but their return is unlikely to be the end of the matter for the individual or their family. The underlying issues that led to them going missing in the first place—alluded to by Kenny Gibson—as well as their experiences while they were missing can prove difficult to deal with if support is not available.
The statistics show that anyone can go missing and none of us is immune—a point that Daniel Johnson alluded to—but what is clear is that, more often than not, a person who is missing has gone missing previously. In 57 per cent of missing person investigations in the past 12 months, the person missing had been missing before. That at least provides us with some clues as to where we should focus our efforts. I will come on to the important subject of return interviews shortly.
A year ago, as has been said, the Scottish Government published its “National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland”. That has been praised very widely, is the first of its kind in Scotland and is founded on close collaboration between Police Scotland, NHS Scotland, local authorities, academics and a number of third sector organisations. For many years, highly dedicated people from across Scotland have been working to deliver the best services possible for those who go missing and their families. Our national framework recognises that excellent work and provides the basis for a national and more co-ordinated approach to missing people.
The framework has two basic aims: to prevent people from going missing in the first place and to limit the harm associated with going missing. It recognises the excellent work that is already carried out daily right across Scotland, and acknowledges that there is room for improvement in a few key areas. For one thing, the framework promotes clearer multi-agency working. We know that that can lead to greater information sharing and pooling of resources and, therefore, to improved outcomes for missing people and their families. It also sets out responsibilities and provides for the first time a single definition of a missing person, a consistent approach to risk management—which are both important from a practical perspective—and a consistent approach to conducting return discussions with missing people.
Prevention is central to our approach and we would always like to do what we can to prevent someone from going missing in the first place. However, that is not an easy task, particularly when a person has never been missing before and has given no outward sign of distress to their family and loved ones. When a person returns, as is the case with 99 per cent of those missing in the past 12 months, there is a key opportunity to discuss with the individual their reasons for going missing and to provide support where possible.
Our framework emphasises the importance of those return discussions, which should be available to all returned missing people, providing the opportunity to explore and try to understand the reasons why they went missing. That is why we have been happy to fund a partnership between the Missing People charity, Barnardo’s, Shelter Scotland and the University of Glasgow to develop and deliver return discussion training to front-line staff across Scotland. It aims to standardise and provide a consistent approach to those key discussions.
The timing of such discussions has to be looked at on a case-by-case basis because it might be that, when the person first returns, they are incapable of talking about their experience and why they went. It might be that, for that person, a bit of time should pass before any return discussion takes place. That is the flexible approach that our excellent front-line agencies take.
Much has been said about support for families and we are prioritising that through our framework. We know that, when a person goes missing, the impact is felt much more widely than simply by the individual; it is felt by their families and loved ones. When a person goes missing, Police Scotland will provide support to families, often through a single point of contact, to help them cope with what can be a highly traumatic experience.
Beyond that, Police Scotland will also refer families to wider support, such as that provided by the Missing People charity. The charity offers specialist support through its 24-hour helpline and telephone counselling service. I am pleased to say that Police Scotland and the Missing People charity today re-launched their memorandum of understanding and partnership to support missing people and their families. That is a positive development and a real boost for those who are struggling to cope with a missing loved one.
We have been an advocate for those services and have provided £142,000 over three years to the Missing People charity to increase awareness of and the use of those important support services by those who need them in Scotland.
On next steps, today I published a review of the progress that we have made in the first year of the national missing persons framework for Scotland. I hope that members from across the chamber will have a look at that review and welcome the progress that we are making.
We are, however, clear that more needs to be done. There are a number of priorities for us during the next twelve months. For example, we will progress the implementation of the framework across Scotland, and ensure that it is embedded in local authorities. We will also continue to promote the key areas of multi-agency working and risk assessment, and to develop more consistency in the approach to return discussions. We will continue to work with partners to achieve those aims.
We will also look to develop educational material to build awareness of the risks of going missing, and we will work with Education Scotland to ensure that that message is delivered to children and young people. As we have heard, 64 per cent of missing persons investigations involve children and young people. We must therefore do more to get the message out about the dangers of going missing and the risks that children and young people would be exposed to if they do go missing.
In response to an issue raised by Ruth Maguire, Edward Mountain and Gordon Lindhurst, among others, the national framework recognises the need to look at the administrative options for handling missing persons’ estates. We are considering the Scottish Law Commission’s report on judicial factors, and that consideration will include the handling of missing persons’ estates. A consultation on the recommendations is due to be published later this year.
The Scottish Government is fully aware of the impact that going missing can have on the individual and their family. Our national missing persons framework for Scotland provides a co-ordinated approach to the issue. However, we know that it is the expertise and knowledge that exists across many organisations and agencies that achieve successful outcomes for people who have been missing. Scotland is not just leading the way in having a national missing persons framework, it has world-class front-line services that work day in, day out with missing people and their families; I pay tribute to them tonight. Without that expertise, we would not be able to say that 99 per cent of missing people in Scotland are returned. We will continue to harness that expertise and, when possible, build on its success. The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing the aims of the framework to prevent people from going missing and to limit the associated harm when they do.
Meeting closed at 17:44.