A new dedicated team of experts from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre will strengthen and lead the UK's ability to respond to missing children from 1st July, Home Office Minister James Brokenshire has announced.
Through the creation of the UK's first ever team of experts dedicated to tackling missing children issues, CEOP will bring their considerable expertise to bear and ensure the right arrangements are in place to protect vulnerable children.
The new team will lead the national response working in partnership with police forces, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the wider child protection community. They will also provide preventative support through the provision of educational tools, products and training to children and professionals, as well as direct operational support to local forces.
Lady Catherine Meyer, Parents & Abducted Children Together (PACT), said:
"This announcement is excellent news for all vulnerable children. It is something that PACT has been campaigning for, for nearly a decade. For the first time in the UK there will be a single national centre, bringing together in one place the resources and expertise of government, police, NGOs and the private sector.
"These changes also send a strong message that crimes against children will not go unpunished and that this government takes children's issues very seriously".
