A total of £82,000 has been pledged to Redbridge council to reduce incidents of children going missing from care.  

The government has given the money to fund a new partnership between the local authority, police and children’s charity Barnardo’s.

In July, police revealed a sharp rise in the number of children being reported missing in Redbridge.

In the last financial year there were 1,219 children reported missing in the borough, and 18 of those went missing from care homes. 

This compares to 518 reports in the 12 months up to April 2012 and 788 the following year.

The partnership will begin next week, seeing a new dedicated team created consisting of a police officer, a social worker and a Barnardo’s worker who will regularly visit care homes to identify areas that require improvement or support.

Labour councillor Elaine Norman, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “I’m very happy that we have received this funding and we will be able to trial this new approach.

“Children go missing from their placements for a variety of reasons and whilst the number of children who do go missing from care in Redbridge is not high, it is our responsibility to make sure that number is as low as possible.

“We want to deliver the best possible service to children who find themselves in care and through this new joined up approach and we hope that we can work together to recognise when these children show signs of going missing and work to inspire their confidence and trust in a system that wants them to succeed and thrive.”

Redbridge council said the scheme will also mean savings of around £1.1m by freeing up resources used to find missing children.

Mandy Beacher, Redbridge Police Deputy Borough Commander, said: "I am grateful that we have received this funding and am looking forward to working with our partners from the local authority and Barnardo's. 

“The funding will enable us to provide additional support to care homes in the borough and build on the relationships that we have already established.”