Question reference: S6W-08142
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 April 2022
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Current status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 10 May 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authority social work departments have developed their own policy to manage risk and to respond to and track missing children, as stated at paragraph 621 of the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland (2014).
Answer
Local authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers and duties are set out in statute. The Scottish Government does not have a record of how many social work departments have their own policy in place for missing children.
Multi-agency risk assessment and co-ordination is essential to managing risk, responding to and tracking missing children. Local Child Protection Committees should ensure that there are specific and appropriate arrangements in place through policy, guidance, protocols and procedures which are known and implemented by relevant services. Local authority social work departments are a core multi-agency partner. The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, which replaced the 2014 guidance, states that each agency needs to develop its own policies and protocols to manage risk and track missing children. These should sit alongside and make reference to the multi-agency Child Protection Committee guidance reflecting that other agencies, for example, Police Scotland, will have to become involved very quickly when a child goes missing.