From 1July 2011 the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre will take on the responsibility as lead agent for missing children in the UK.

CEOP will bring together the UK's first team of experts dedicated to searching for missing and abducted children. It is estimated that as many as 100 thousand children go missing in the UK each year.

Part of the role within the new initiative will be the development of expert training for professionals dealing in this difficult area of social work and policing.

There is an expectation that the organisation will take on high profile cases. In May 2011 the Prime Minister pledged support for the ongoing Madeleine McCann investigation and ordered detectives from the Met' to step-up their investigation. In fact, our source tells us that it will be the CEOP's responsibility to review and carry out the McCann Investigation.

Madeleine McCann Went Missing on 3rd May 2007

Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3rd May 2007. She was on holiday with her parents and twin siblings in Portugal. The 4 year old went missing from an apartment, in the central area of the resort of Praia da Luza and has still not been found. Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have said that they left the children unsupervised in a ground floor bedroom while they ate at a restaurant a short distance away. The initial investigation by the Portuguese criminal investigation police, was based on the assumption that Madeleine had probably been abducted. After further investigation, the Police stated that there was a strong hypothesis that she might have died in her room, but could give no evidence to support this. During the investigation there were a number of unconfirmed claimed sightings of Madeleine in Portugal and elsewhere, and additional scientific evidence was obtained. The investigation involved the co-operation of the British and Portuguese police.

On 7th September 2007 the parents were named as suspects, but were allowed to fly back to the United Kingdom. They were subsequently cleared, on 21 July 2008.

If Madeleine is found living with a family and that the parents were unaware of the 'abduction' status of 'their' child it would follow that they could apply to an English court for contact to Madeleine. Obviously if such an application was accepted then a full report would be ordered and the reporting officer, in line with the 1989 Children Act, must take into account the child's wishes. Madeleine could well be saying that she wanted contact.

Four years on there is still no tangible evidence leading to Madeleine's whereabouts.

If you have any knowledge that may help please contact your local police or you can contact My Child Contact in anonymity here.

Ceop to take the lead on services for missing children

By Janaki Mahadevan Wednesday, 25 May 2011

A team of experts from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) is to lead a national response to the issue of missing children, the government has announced.

Peter Davies: 'We will put into the hands of any investigation our collective specialism to reach rapid and effective conclusions'. Image: Ceop

From 1 July a dedicated team from the centre will be tasked with working with police, child protection bodies and non-governmental organisations to ensure suitable arrangements are in place to protect vulnerable children.

Making the announcement on International Missing Children’s Day, crime and security minister James Brokenshire said the group will also provide preventative support through products and training for children and professionals as well as operational support to local police forces.

"Around 230,000 missing children reports are made in the UK every year," he said. "The risks children are exposed to are severe and the harm they suffer can be very serious so it is crucial we can act quickly. Ceop's new responsibility for national missing children's services means they can bring their significant child protection expertise to tackle this important issue."

Ceop will provide support to the police through resources such as the Child Rescue Alert system and the MissingKids website. It will also aim to ensure arrangements are in place to co-ordinate the collective response to complex cases of missing and abducted children.

Peter Davies, chief executive of Ceop, said: "Partnership will be our key theme. We will look to learn, analyse and contribute our expertise to the wider policing community; we will work with children and parents to raise awareness of the risks and the options and we will put into the hands of any investigation our collective specialism to reach rapid and effective conclusions.

"We will also work to ensure the causes of children going missing are understood and addressed after their return."

Martin Houghton-Brown, chief executive of charity Missing People, said Ceop's new role will help ensure the safety of thousands of children.

"We are delighted that Ceop will be joining the frontline of services to help find and protect missing children," he said "Their expertise in safeguarding vulnerable children and extensive work in education will help to ensure the safety of thousands of young people."