Low trust and confidence in the Metropolitan police is making some parents and carers reluctant to report children missing, according to a report from the London Assembly.
Its police and crime committee says that instead, some parents are deciding to search for their children themselves.
The report says every incident of a missing child requires a full safeguarding response, but the committee’s investigation has found that this is ‘not always being delivered’.
In the last year more than 9,000 children went missing in London, many more than once, resulting in 29,455 missing incidents recorded by the police.
The committee recommends London Mayor Sadiq Khan to carry out a review of the experiences of parents, carers and staff in reporting children missing and draw up a new strategy.
It says City Hall should be declared a safe haven for all children who feel at risk, threatened or in danger.
The committee’s chairman Susan Hall said: ‘The issue of missing children is all our responsibility.
‘We hope that the recommendations in our report are taken forward to better prevent children from going missing and find and protect those that do.’
