Notifying the NPIA Missing Persons Bureau

• Send all reports of persons missing for 72 hours* to the MPB, or sooner if the officer in charge thinks that the case warrants urgent attention.
• If subject is a foreign national notify the Bureau immediately.
• If subject is a UK resident missing abroad notify the Bureau immediately.
• Send all reports of unidentified bodies or persons to the Bureau within 48 hours of being found.

*For forces that have adopted the Code of Practice

Submitting Case Details

Many police forces are now able to notify us of missing person cases automatically, depending on the Incident Management System used in Force.  Where this is not possible, please submit comprehensive details of the case to us:

• By e-mail - missingpersonsbureau@npia.pnn.police.uk
  
• By fax - 01256 692571 

Specific forms for submitting details about missing persons and unidentified persons/bodies are available to police from our community on the secure POLKA (Police OnLine Knowledge Area) website, where you will also find other useful publications relating to missing persons. Alternatively, please contact us on 0845 000 5481 or at missingpersonsbureau@npia.pnn.police.uk and we will forward a copy of the relevant form to you.

Photographs and dental records, where available, should be forwarded to the NPIA MPB as soon as possible after notification.

Additional information that comes to light after notification should also be forwarded to the MPB. Forces should ensure there is an appropriate reference on the cover sheet.

Child Rescue Alert

The Guidance on the Management Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons was revised and updated for 2010.  It is now available as an electronic publication.  The Guidance and its supporting documents can be downloaded from the Missing Persons Bureau community on the POLKA website.

Code of Practice:

The Code of Practice was launched on 1st April 2009 having been approved by the ACPO cabinet and Parliament. The Code of Practice  means it is now a statutory requirement for police forces to forward data on missing and unidentified persons, bodies and body parts to the Bureau.

Key changes to previous practices :

• Timescales for submission of notifications for those persons still missing 72 hours after being reported are to be submitted within 84 hours, regardless of risk.
• All unidentified persons/bodies and body parts, to be submitted within 48 hours
• A fuller data set than has previously been sent to the Missing People charity, is required. See the 2010 Practice Advice on Missing Persons shown above. 
• Format for electronic data exchange - this will be according to a force's current IT system. The aim is to make a direct transfer from a force system onto the Bureau's database (Hermes) using an xml schema. It is also intended to use the forthcoming PND schema to mitigate the need for future changes.
• Forces are no longer required to send data to the Missing People charity under the National Protocol Agreement. The Bureau will share data with the charity on a case-by-case basis.

The quarterly return is a requirement for all forces. Detailed guidance on completing the quarterly return can be obtained from us via e-mail.

The timetable for quarterly returns data submission each year is :