Mike Crockart calls on police to submit info

Published on Tuesday 19 July 2011 11:10

A CITY MP has written to all Chief Constables in Scotland, asking for them to ensure that every missing person report filed is submitted to the Missing Persons Bureau.

This is a legal obligation in England and Wales, but in Scotland is simply "best practice", with no legal obligation on police forces to comply.

Mike Crockart, MP for Edinburgh West, said: "Without all information on unidentified bodies and missing persons from local police forces being shared with the Missing Persons Bureau there is a clear risk of loopholes and data gaps, leading to distress and uncertainty for families across the UK when they are desperate to know what has happened to their loved ones.

"As an ex-police officer, I recently co-chaired a UK Parliamentary inquiry into cross-matching unidentified bodies with missing person reports, in conjunction with the All-Party Group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults.

"Clearly this relies on two sets of data being held by the Missing Persons Bureau - both the missing person reports and information about unidentified bodies, on a country-wide basis."