PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
NATIONAL MISSING PERSONS HELPLINE (12 March 1998)

That this House commends the invaluable work of the charity, National Missing Persons Helpline, in supporting the families of missing persons, and assisting missing persons to reunite with their families, if they so wish; notes that the Helpline undertakes far more than its name implies and maintains the only comprehensive national register of missing people in the UK, which now includes some 18,000 cases in relation to which it received many thousands of calls; congratulates the Helpline on improving its success rate to 74 per cent; notes the pioneering role played by the Helpline by producing an education pack to help prevent teenagers going missing and becoming homeless through liaison with teachers and local authorities; further notes that the Helpline provides essential support to the police and other public sector professionals to resolve missing person cases, thereby freeing public sector resources; recognises the valuable role played in technical backup to police and coroners through the NMPH Identification and Reconstruction Department and in briefing public and voluntary sector organisations; further notes that the National Missing Persons Helpline's heavy workload relies on skilled unpaid volunteers and voluntary donations, which has lead to extreme financial over-stretch; and therefore calls upon the Government positively now to consider the Helpline's case for public support.

Sponsored by:
Austin Mitchell (Labour)