asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will arrange independent inquiries whenever migrant or asylum-seeking children go missing from local authority care, with special emphasis on those aged 14 to 17. [HL4336]

In November 2002, the Department of Health published Children Missing from Care and Home—A Guide to Good Practice in tandem with the Social Exclusion Unit’s report Young Runaways. This was issued along with Circular LAC (2002)17 under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, making the guidance a requirement for local authorities. This guidance requires that any child who runs from their care placement, which includes any child who is in the local authority’s care because they are an unaccompanied asylum seeker, should be offered access to a professional independent of their placement to provide them with the opportunity to talk through the reason why they went missing, so that they can be offered the support they need to reduce the possibility of their running again.