2 May 2019
Nearly 2000 children living in local authority care were reported missing to police in 2018, it has been revealed.
Freedom of Information figures have shown around five calls are made to officers every day after young people under the care of councils have vanished.
The data was obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, and shows there were 1935 cases recorded last year.
That includes 198 instances in Glasgow, 170 in Fife and 164 in Edinburgh.
MSP Maurice Golden said all authorities had to work more closely to ensure young people received care in a safe and secure environment with appropriate supervision.
Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said:
“These are very worrying statistics affecting an extremely vulnerable group of young people.
“People don’t run away from loving homes on this scale, so there’s clearly a problem.
“No-one’s pretending there’s an easy answer to this, and many of these cases may have been quickly and satisfactorily resolved.
“But we need to ask why these young people are going missing, and where are they running away too.
“It’s incumbent upon us all, from the Scottish Parliament to agencies on the ground, to work harder to ensure these figures can be reduced substantially in future years.”
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