Supporting children and young people who go missing from home - Consultations

Have your say on the RUNA recommission

Every year, over 500 children and young people go missing in the Bolton borough. Many more are at risk of leaving their place of residence, educational setting or a setting which they are supposed to be attending, with their whereabouts unknown to those charged with their care.

There are many reasons why children go missing or plan to. Some children and young people may feel unsafe or unhappy, find it difficult to get on with the people they live with, or think they're in trouble. These are just some reasons why children and young people choose to go missing, but there can be many more. 

What is Bolton Council’s role?

Bolton council has a legal duty to ensure a return interview is offered to all children and young people who are reported as missing, on their return home.  The interviews are carried out by an independent provider. This duty applies to children and young people living in their family home, and to those who are looked after and in the care of the local authority. 

At this time the Provider carrying out return interviews is Urban Outreach, with their RUNA prgramme. The RUNA programme team work with Bolton Council, Greater Manchester Police, parents, carers and local schools to try to get any missing children / young people home safely and quickly. They investigate what led them to leave home and look at what support they need when they return to their home / place of care. 

Support, advice and guidance is also provided to any child / young person who is at risk of going missing, so that we can try to prevent this happening.  

The service is currently delivered by the Local Authority, with independent return interviews currently delivered by Urban Outreach, under the RUNA [Remember UR Not Alone] project.

Why we want your views?

We are seeking views on the best ways to support children / young people who go missing or are at risk of going missing. We would like to hear what is working well now, and what could be done differently.

Urban Outreach currently deliver the RUNA programme, which is due to end in April 2026. We want to review the current service before deciding the best way to offer it in future. We could provide the service in-house using Council staff, or could go out to tender, where we invite all interested organisations [including Urban Outreach] to bid for the contract to run the service for a number of years. 

Anyone can give their views, but we are particularly keen to hear from young people, as well as their parents, carers and professionals - those who have experience of children and young people going missing or might do so in future.

Who to contact should you require immediate and preventative support?

We have compiled a list of organisations should you require support if a child or young people has gone missing or is at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation: List of preventative services in Bolton.

Survey

If you require a paper copy of the survey or would like support to complete the survey, please contact the consultation team on 01204 334875, leaving your name, address and telephone number and the name of the consultation you are interested in, ‘Supporting children and young people who go missing from home’.