RUNAWAY CHILDREN

That this House supports the Children's Society's Safe and Sound campaign to make England safe for the 100,000 children who run away from home or care each year; is alarmed at the Society's findings that almost half of all children who have run away for over a week have been physically or sexually hurt in that period; calls on all local authorities to put into place the safeguards recommended by the Department of Health to protect young runaways; and further calls on the Department for Education and Skills to publish the evaluations of the six pilot schemes for flexible community-based accommodation for young runaways across England and for the Department to set out how the lessons learnt can be incorporated in the swift establishment of a national network of safe places for children and young people.