It has been an excellent debate. The area is complex, and each of the contributions has reflected that complexity. Mohammad Yasin has clearly seen the impact of unregulated accommodation in his Constituency, which I know is a hotspot for county lines activity.

It is also interesting to hear the contributions from the different parts of the United Kingdom. I do not think that I have ever participated in a debate in Westminster Hall at which Jim Shannon has not been present. He has a long-standing commitment to the subject. Angela Crawley very much gave us the Scottish perspective. Perhaps all that shows us the strength of the Union.

I tell the Minister that I do not doubt for one instant the commitment of every single Minister with whom I have raised this issue over the past 10 years. The worrying thing for me is that, since 2015, things have got worse in terms of the number of children going missing and the harm that has come to them, in spite of very good initiatives by the Department and a complete focus on prevention, which is absolutely right.

In this debate, I was asking for a focus on the underlying cause of the problem, which is to do with the insufficiency of places to meet the care needs of the children whom we are taking into care. I believe that unless that is managed and sorted out, and we get a proper supply distributed across England, we will continue to have children go missing in huge numbers and be at risk of exploitation. No one else can lead on this except the Minister and her Department. Only the Minister has the information, the financial leverage, and the authority to bring together and lead a group to address the fundamental market failures.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House
has considered the matter of sexual and criminal exploitation of missing looked after children.

Sitting suspended.