Kids under care of Lewisham council went missing 180 times in a year

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Kids in the care of a council went missing for a day or more 180 times last year.

At least one child in Lewisham council’s care disappeared up to eight times in 2022.

Cllr Chris Barnham, Lewisham’s cabinet member for children’s services, revealed the information in a written response to a question from a member of the public.

A total of 27 kids looked after by the council went missing for 24 hours or longer last year,  Cllr Barnham said.

Out of these children, 13 were being cared for in the borough, while 14 were being looked after outside of Lewisham.

Kids in placements outside of the borough vanished for a day or more 107 times. All but five of these incidents involved older children aged between 13 and 17.

Children placed in Lewisham’s care disappeared for 24 hours or longer on 73 occasions last year. Out of these kids, 58 per cent were aged between 16 and 17, but the rest were younger.

Lewisham council said it had tightened up how it dealt with children who go missing as part of its improvement efforts.

Ofsted told Lewisham that its children’s social care service needed to improve following an inspection in 2019.

A follow-up visit in 2021 found that council bosses had “improved and strengthened services for children in care.”

In a written response to a separate question, Cllr Chris Barnham revealed three kids aged under 16 were being looked after in homes not monitored by Ofsted – the children’s social care watchdog.

The government banned councils from putting under 16s in unregulated homes in 2021. But Cllr Chris Barnham told a Lewisham council meeting on Wednesday of last week that in practice the council sometimes had “no alternative” but to put kids in accommodation not monitored by Ofsted.

A Lewisham council spokeswoman said: “We take incidents of children going missing from their family homes and from care very seriously. We have a dedicated team for children and young people who go missing that works closely with our partners, particularly the police, to respond to incidents.

“When a child goes missing from home or care our team and social workers are notified and we review the circumstances and make plans for locating and securing the safety of the child. This may involve a child protection strategy meeting with police, health and education agencies.”

Pictured top: Lewisham council’s headquarters in Catford (Picture: Google Street View)