A recent study by charities Ecpat UK and Missing People found that between September 2014 and September 2015, 28 per cent of trafficked children in care (167 children) and 13 per cent of unaccompanied children in care (593 children) went missing at least once. Of these, 207 children (40 per cent of those who went missing) are yet to be found. This is deeply concerning. However this is not the whole picture and the idea that all local authorities treat this issue using similar approaches and are sharing best practice to ensure that all steps are taken to protect these children is exposed in the study.  The study was based on information from only 45 upper tier local authorities, yet in England alone there are 25 County Councils and 127 unitary authorities so at best the data represents a quarter of the areas of the UK. The highest number of children still missing within one local authority area was 53 so a quarter of these children come from one Council area. This means that the data could be much worse if all local authorities were to respond. Only 10 of these local authorities (so a further quarter) were able to provide detailed information about the nationalities of the children concerned, even though 60% of the professionals questioned as part of the survey, believe that the nationality of the children would have a bearing on the liklihood of them to go missing. It is clear that we need a more robust set of information and that our Councils are challenged to learn from one another and follow best practice. This is too important to be left to charities to ask questions about.