We must help families of missing

LAST week BBC Radio Manchester covered some of the issues around missing children and adults.

I was very pleased with the coverage and to be able to talk about the work of the all party parliamentary group I chair.

Every year thousands of people go missing in Greater Manchester. Last year alone, Greater Manchester Police dealt with over 11,000 cases.

There can have been a family row - or the person may have just disappeared. The majority thankfully are found within 24 hours safe and well. Some people, however, are still missing after a year. There is a huge emotional impact on the families left behind.

Sometimes several years later they still don’t know what has happened.

On top of the emotional trauma, families of missing people have to cope with the practical problems of managing their finances and property. They need to pay bills, mortgages , rent, insurance, credit card payments, instalments on loans to protect dependents and keep the life of the family member together - all in the hope that they will return soon.

This is not easy and requires often protracted separate negotiations. And they may not be successful and a family’s life can fall apart as a consequence.

Our parliamentary inquiry in 2011 recommended a new power of guardianship to enable families to manage a missing family member’s finances and property until they returned home.

It was backed by the justice committee and was accepted by the government 18 months ago. But there is still no sign of legislation which would make such a difference to the families of missing people. So one of my New Year wishes is that there is that promised legislation. It would mean so much to those families.