Leroy Hamilton

1st Floor  
Wesleyan 
Colmore Circus 
Birmingham B4 6AR 

28th April 2023  

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL 

Mrs Louise Hunt 
Senior Coroner 
Birmingham and Solihull Areas 
The Birmingham and Solihull Coroners Court 
Steelhouse Lane 
Birmingham, B4 6BJ  

Dear Ms Hunt 

Leroy Patrick Hamilton - Response to Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths  

I write in response to the Regulation 28 Report dated 11th January 2023 which was issued following the 
inquest on the death of Mr Leroy Patrick Hamilton in December 2021. I note the narrative conclusion of 
the inquest was ‘drowned whilst suffering an acute psychotic relapse’ and that a Regulation 28 Report to 
Prevent Future Deaths has been issued in respect of this incident. I extend my sincere condolences to Mr 
Hamilton’s family and loved ones. 

You raised five matters for concern, three specifically relating to the provision of services by Birmingham 
and  Solihull  Mental  Health  NHS  Foundation  Trust  (BSMHFT),  NHS  Birmingham  and  Solihull  ICB  and      
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation Trust (UHBFT) and two related to West Midlands Police.  

Please accept this letter, authored by Birmingham and Solihull ICB in conjunction with both BSMHFT and 
UHBFT, in response to the concerns identified.  The issues identified during the above inquest into Mr 
Hamilton’s  death,  regarding  the  provision/resourcing  of  health  care  to  acutely  unwell  people  requiring    
mental health support are complex and the subject of significant review at both a national and regional 
level consequent to the current unprecedented demand for mental health services. 

Lack  of  inpatient  mental  health  beds  and  lack  of  Psychiatric  Decisions  Unit  (  PDU)  spaces.            
Consideration is needed urgently to fund further mental health beds and PDU spaces to ensure 
patients are not kept unattended in extremely busy emergency departments. 

This  cohort  of  vulnerable  people  often,  through  necessity,  initially  attend  at  acute  hospital  Emergency 
Departments  (ED)  when  in  crisis.  Initial  assessment  and  subsequent  placement  into  an  appropriate        
therapeutic  environment  can  take several  hours resulting  in  the  person waiting  within  the  ED,  which  is 
busy and unsettling.  This is a pathway of access into care that we as an ICS recognise does not provide 
a suitable experience for a person with an acute mental health (MH) crisis.  It reflects the widely recognised 
need for further acute bedded capacity for the Birmingham and Solihull system; it is unfortunately usual  

 
 
 
  
        
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 for the ICS to have many patients placed in beds out of area and managed within the community whilst 
awaiting access to a bed.  

A Mental Health Provider Collaborative was formed April 2023 within Birmingham and Solihull ICS with 
responsibility  for  designing  and  delivering  appropriate  mental  health  services  across  the  ICS.  This             
collaborative is leading on the strategic cases to establish further bedded capacity, but we recognise that 
this will take time.   The developing  health infrastructure strategy for the local NHS will highlight additional 
inpatient mental health facilities as a priority for any bids for national capital.  

As an ICS we, therefore, recognise the need to place significant focus on pathways for people with acute 
MH crisis to, whenever possible, ensure direction to the most appropriate pathway of care at first contact, 
thus avoiding the ED, and once within an ED to progress to definitive care as soon as possible.   

Over this winter period the ICB have commissioned additional beds to aid flow through bedded capacity 
to enable step down ahead of discharge and to facilitate return into the system from out of area placement. 
There is also a considerable focus on flow through all MH bedded capacity, with a focus on overcoming 
delays in discharge of stable patients to maximise productivity of available capacity.  

For patients known to MH services, support is already provided through their community teams, the crisis 
and  home  treatment  teams  with  work  in  progress  to  further  strengthen  these  support  mechanisms.  In 
addition  there  are  plans  to  extend  the  Street  Triage  team  and  a  focused  project  with  West  Midlands          
Ambulance  Trust  has  introduced  ‘call  before  you  convey’  giving  direct  access  to  MH  advice  diverting       
people  away  from  the  ED  to  more  appropriate  pathways  wherever  possible.  BSMHFT  have  recently           
appointed a Director of Urgent Care Transformation to lead all pathway changes. 

The  Psychiatric  Decision  Unit  (PDU)  based  at  Oleaster  Unit  in  BSMHFT,  has  been  commissioned  for 
patients who have capacity, are able to consent to attend the PDU and who are assessed as “low risk”. It 
is  an  ambulant  assessment  area  which  provides  a  calming  environment  for  the  assessment  and                   
development of treatment and pathway plans. As such it is not an admission area; it does not have beds 
within it. Like ED, there are no powers of detention for individuals accessing the PDU. There are six spaces 
(three male, three female) in the PDU.  Processes implemented by the ICS help to divert suitable people 
to the PDU capacity rather than attendance at ED and the capacity is used regularly to take people from 
ED  who  meet  the  relevant  criteria.  However,  it  is  recognised  that  review  of  the  current  PDU  service  is 
required;  we  need  capacity  that  provides  care  for  people  with  higher  acuity  of  MH  need,  with  clear            
pathways for access and onward care. As part of the review we will also be looking at the clinical support 
for PDU. As a system we recognise accessing help prior to coming to ED or PDU will be best for many 
patients. 

Despite efforts to offer alternatives to people with known mental health issues, and to proactively support 
those in crisis, it is not possible to completely prevent attendance of people with acute MH crisis to the ED; 
personal  behaviour  will  direct  health  seeking  behaviour,  and  some  people  require  assessment  and        
treatment of physical health and MH needs (the latter through the embedded psychiatric liaison teams) 
before transfer to MH care. Where the person presents to the ED a system focus is applied to ensure that 
they are moved to the most appropriate environment as capacity allows in the shortest possible time.   

Within the EDs, nursing staff complete a triage on all patients.  When a patient presents with a MH issue, 
staff will complete an additional assessment, the ‘Threshold Assessment Grid’.  During this assessment, 
additional questions are asked to understand the risk of the patient to both themselves and others. Where 
a significant MH need is identified, this will be escalated to the nurse in charge for consideration of a high 
visibility cubicle and need for enhanced observation including the need for the request for a mental health 
nurse to ‘special’ the patient.  Ongoing observations are then performed and level of risk is also escalated 
as needed to the liaison psychiatry team for an urgent assessment. 

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 Initial assessment is performed by the liaison psychiatry team.  The liaison psychiatry team aim to review 
all patients in ED within one hour of referral.  If a suitable placement is available the person is moved to 
this as soon as possible. 

Where  admission  or  further  assessment  is  required  and  there  is  no  immediate  admission  destination     
available the person will sometimes remain in the ED whilst this is progressed. The care of such a person 
is escalated to the ICS Urgent and Emergency Care meetings which are held three to four times per day 
and  discussed  within  BSMHFT  bed  meetings  held  twice  daily.  People  may  be  transferred  to  the  PDU 
during this period of waiting for a suitable placement if considered appropriate.  

We recognise as an ICS that even with the introduction of the significant focus on pathways for individuals 
described above, the care for this group of people must remain a priority for us all. We have therefore 
established a system wide clinical oversight group to lead together this piece of work. This emphasizes 
joint ownership of care and pathways and will be a single liaison point with external agencies. Through the 
Mental Health Collaborative we are also ensuring that all work in this area is being streamlined and joined 
up  under  one  programme  linking  clinical  and  operational  elements  along  the  whole  pathway  across  all 
provider organisations. The clinical work programme includes an immediate adoption of jointly owned care 
standards across the pathway, with audit and learning against provided care, and exploration of different 
PDU  models  to  meet  ICS  need.  This  group  will  report  to  ICS  quality  governance  into  the  ICB  Quality 
Committee as well as into individual provider quality oversight.  

Consideration should be given to setting up a safe space where patients can wait for a bed or PDU 
space which is able to cater for their special needs and keep them safe. 

We feel that the creation of a physical safe space, that is not a psychiatric hospital, where a person is 
admitted either informally or under Part 2 or Part 3 of the MHA 1983, within the ICS would not prevent a 
person in Mr Hamilton’s circumstances from leaving the premises of an acute hospital. 

In this context, however, we recognise the need to keep people safe within the environment we have. The 
actions outlined above focus on ensuring where possible, ED is avoided. When a person does present to 
ED, a structured process of care assesses an individual’s need and provides care to this need when the 
person remains in the department. This time within the department is minimised by system ownership of 
the  need  to  progress  the  person  to  a  more  suitable  place  of  care  as  a  matter  of  urgency  within  jointly 
owned  care  standards  and  regular  escalations  to  progress  onward  care  placement.  This  will  remain  a 
crucial  focus  whilst  bedded  capacity  is  expanded  to  meet  the  local  need.  We  also  ensure  all  system         
partners  will  communicate  with  each  other  as  needed  when  our  patients  leave  PDU  or  ED  to  provide 
maximum safeguards for our patients. 

Multiagency protocol for informal missing patients.  

BSMHFT and UHB both have Missing Patients Policies in place. These are single agency policies and it 
is recognised that there will be significant potential benefit in establishing a consistent system wide protocol 
across  urgent  care  services  for  mental  health  patients  who  go  missing,  consistent  with  the  National     
Framework Document (‘The multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings’ (Up-
dated August 2021). A multi-agency agreement of this type defines roles and responsibilities, allows for 
consistency across services, and includes clear escalation pathways. This work will be led by the Mental 
Health Provider Collaborative with input from all system stakeholders.   

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I trust that the actions outlined above will provide the assurances you seek in respect of the matters of 
concern.  We recognise that there is considerable work to be done and some of the aspects of this work 
will require input at a national level.  We are conscious, therefore, that we have not been able to provide 
an action plan with detailed timelines. As an ICS we are, however, utterly committed to working together 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to own jointly the pathways of care for patients with acute mental illness and ensure we use our currently 
available capacity as effectively as we can for individuals and the population.   

Yours sincerely  

Chief Executive  

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From Maria Caulfield MP 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State 
Department of Health & Social Care 

39 Victoria Street 
London 
SW1H 0EU 

10 May 2024  

Louise Hunt  
Coroner's Court 
Steelhouse Lane  
Birmingham 
B4 6BJ  

Dear Miss Hunt,  

Thank you for your Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths dated 11 January 2023 
about the death of Leroy Hamilton.  I am replying as the Minister with responsibility for 
mental health and patient safety. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in 
responding.  

Firstly, I would like to say how saddened I was to read of the circumstances of Leroy and I 
offer my sincere condolences to his family and loved ones. The circumstances your report 
describes are concerning and I am grateful to you for bringing these matters to my 
attention. Please accept my sincere apologies for the significant delay in responding to this 
matter.  

The report raises concerns over numbers of inpatient mental health and psychiatric 
decisions unit beds and arrangements for informal missing patients.  It also raises concerns 
about local policing arrangements and you will understand that these are outside of my 
remit as a Health Minister.  

I note that West Midlands Police and Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care have each 
already carefully considered the matters of concern in your report and have provided you 
with comprehensive responses setting out the actions being taken to improve care quality 
and patient safety.  

Regarding the lack of inpatient mental health beds and psychiatric decisions unit (PDU) 
spaces and the availability of ‘safe space’, we are supporting the NHS to take action to 
reduce waiting times in A&E, including through adding 5,000 more permanent general and 
acute beds, speeding up hospital discharge and increasing transparency and the available 
information on waiting times and the NHS’s progress in reducing them.   

To support adult social care and discharges across the NHS, including from mental health 
inpatient settings, up to £2.8 billion was made available in 2023/24 and £4.7 billion in 
2024/25, with the aim of reducing bed occupancy.   

The Department has also worked with NHS England and other system partners to develop 
statutory guidance for discharge from all mental health inpatient settings, which was 

 
 
 
 
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 published in January 2024. This sets out how NHS bodies and local authorities can work 
together to support the discharge process, improving flow and ensuring the right support in 
the community.  The guidance is available at: Hospital discharge and community support 
guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  

In addition, we are providing £150 million of capital investment for mental health urgent and 
emergency care infrastructure over 2023/24 and 2024/25. This includes investment into a 
range of wider local mental health infrastructure schemes, including new and improved 
crisis cafes, crisis houses, health-based places of safety and improvements to emergency 
departments and crisis lines. Over 160 schemes have been allocated funding by NHS 
England so far and 99 have been completed. The funding will also provide for specialised 
mental health ambulances which will be rolled out across the country – and be supported 
by practitioners trained to provide advice and treatments in cases of co-occurring physical 
and mental health issues.   

More widely, through the NHS Long Term Plan, we have invested almost £1 billion extra in 
community mental health care for adults by March 2024, expanding community mental 
health services, so that patients are supported to stay well in their communities. This major 
expansion in funding for community mental health services commenced in all areas in 
2021/22 and one of its aims is to reduce reliance on inpatient treatment.  

Turning to the matter of a multi-agency protocol to deal with informal patients who abscond 
from emergency departments. The WMP have addressed this in their response as they are 
currently setting up a working group with key partner agencies, including mental health 
agencies and professionals, to discuss and design a joint missing person protocol. They 
anticipate that these discussions will take into account the circumstances of Mr Hamilton's 
case.  

I hope this response is helpful. Thank you for bringing these concerns to my attention.   

Yours sincerely, 

MARIA CAULFIELD

CRAIG GUILDFORD QPM VR DL 
CHIEF CONSTABLE 

POLICE HEADQUARTERS 
PO Box 52 
Colmore Circus Queensway 
BIRMINGHAM 
B46NQ 

9th  March 2023 

Dear Mrs Louise Hunt - HM  Senior Coroner for Birmingham and  Solihull, 

This  is  the  response  of the  Chief  Constable  of West  Midlands  Police  to  the  Regulation  28 
report  issued  by  His  Majesty's  Area  Coroner  for  Birmingham  and  Solihull  on  11  January 
2023 following  the conclusion of the inquest into the death of Leroy Patrick Hamilton. 

HM  Area  Coroner  identified  five  concerns,  set  out  in  Part  5  of  the  report,  which  are  as 
follows: 

1.  Lack of inpatient mental health beds and lack of Psychiatric decisions 
unit  (POU)  spaces:  The  inquest  heard  how  there  was  a  regional  and 
national lack of inpatient beds and spaces in  POU.  Consideration is needed 
urgently  to  fund  further  mental  health  beds  and  POU  spaces  to  ensure 
in  extremely  busy  emergency 
patients  are  not  kept  unattended 
departments. 

2.  Safe space:  The  inquest heard how it is often the  case that due  to the lack 
of inpatient beds and POU spaces patients are often left in  the  Emergency 
department  unattended  or sent  home  with  periodic  reviews  by the  home 
treatment team  whilst waiting  for a  bed.  This  means  that acutely ill  mental 
health  patients  are  often  left for  long  periods  without  any specialist  care, 
support or observation.  Consideration  should be  given  to  setting up  a safe 
space  where  patients  can  wait  for  a  bed  or  POU  space  which  is  able  to 
cater for their special needs and keep them safe. 

3.  Multi agency protocol for informal missing patients:  The  inquest heard 
how there is no agreed protocol to deal with  informal patients who abscond 
from  emergency departments.  Consideration  should be  given  to  setting up 
an agreed protocol so that all agencies involved understand their respective 
roles and responsibilities. 

4.  WMP  Missing  person  investigations:  The  inquest  heard  how  on  2 
occasions  (03/12121  and 07/12121)  there  was a failure  to  treat Mr Hamilton 
as a missing person  when  he was reported as missing.  On  both  occasions 
he  should have  been  treated as a  high  risk missing person.  This  raises  a 
serious  concern  that  staff  do  not  understand  when  people  should  be 
classified  as  missing.  Consideration  should  be  given  to  ensuring  staff 
properly  understand  how  to  assess  if someone  should  be  treated  as  a 
missing  person  and  WMP  should  consider  whether  further  training  is 
required. 

5.  WMP  risk  assessments  for  missing  persons:  When  Mr  Hamilton  was 
first reported as missing no risk assessment was undertaken about his level 
of risk to  himself.  The  call had confirmed he was at risk of harming himself 
The  leads  to  a  concern  that staff do  not understand  when  and how to  risk 
assess incidents and when to identify high .risk incidents. 

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 Whereas  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth  of  the  Coroner's  concerns  are  pertinent  to  West 
Midlands Police (WMP),  the  first and  second concerns  relating  to the  Psychiatric  Decisions 
Unit  (POU)  are,  in  my  view,  pertinent  to  other  addressees  of  the  report,  namely:  (i)  the 
Birmingham  and  Solihull  Mental  health  NHS  Foundation  Trust;  (ii)  the  Birmingham  and 
Solihull  Integrated  Care  Board;  (iii)  University  Hospital  Birmingham  NHS  Foundation  Trust; 
and  (iv)  the  Secretary  of State  for  Health.  WMP  has  no  involvement  in  the  commissioning 
and  operation  of the  POU.  For these  reasons,  this  response  focusses  on  the  third,  fourth 
and  fifth  concerns identified  by the Coroner. 

In  relation  to  the  Coroner's  third  concern,  relating  to  a  multi-agency  protocol  to  deal  with 
informal  patients who  abscond from  emergency departments,  WMP  is  currently setting  up  a 
working  group  with  key  partner  agencies, 
including  mental  health  agencies  and 
professionals,  to  discuss  and  design  a joint  missing  person  protocol.  I anticipate  that these 
discussions  will  take  into  account the  circumstances  of Mr  Hamilton's  case,  as  well  as  the 
Authorised  Professional  Practice  (APP)  of  the  College  of  Policing,  current  national  best 
practice,  information sharing,  the  operation  of lead agencies,  communications (including  with 
and  to  relevant  partner  agencies)  and  on-going  governance.  The  department  within  West 
Midlands Police responsible for the  investigation of missing  person  reports  is  called  'Locate'. 
A  key  tenet  of  the  team's  remit  is  to  work  with  partner  agencies  to  ensure  that  accurate 
information is shared,  and  that partner agencies understand WMP's role and  responsibilities. 

WMP  has  also  established  a  Multi  Agency  Missing  Meeting  (MAMM).  This  is  a  monthly 
meeting  chaired  by  the  Detective  Superintendent  lead  for  the  Locate  department  and  will 
encompass  representatives  from  relevant  partner  agencies  and  key  external  stakeholders. 
MAMM  provides an  opportunity for multi-agency discussion  relating  to  risk and  joint learning 
to  improve  multi-agency  collaboration.  It  is  anticipated  that  MAMM  will  improve  WMP's 
response  to  missing  persons,  including  where  'informal  patients'  abscond  from  emergency 
departments. WMP welcomes the opportunity to collaborate more closely with  mental  health 
stakeholders,  with  a  view  to  ensuring  that  Locate  is  best  placed  to  carry  out  its  functions. 
MAMM  will  also  provide  an  opportunity for further training for WMP staff and  other agencies 
and  key stakeholders. 

While  not strictly related  to the Coroner's concerns,  work is  now also underway to  implement 
the  'Philomena  Protocol' within  WMP.  This  is  a joint working  agreement between  the  police 
and  local authorities to ensure that appropriate information is shared for missing children and 
that  the  right  response  is  in  place  from  the  outset  to  minimise  risk  and  safeguard  missing 
children.  I  am  mindful  that  this  work,  which  WMP  is  supporting  nationally  to  ensure  best 
practice across all  forces  and  local authorities,  is  a strong  foundation  for the  implementation 
of policies and working  practices within the mental health arena. 

As  to  the  Coroner's fourth  and  fifth  concerns  relating  to  missing  person  investigations  and 
risk  assessments,  I wish  to  inform  HM  Area  Coroner that following  steps  have  been  taken, 
and  are being  currently being  carried out. 

First, to specifically consider whether ongoing support is  required for Force Contact and 
Force Response staff,  a 'Task and  Finish' group has been established to address learning 
points.  The first meeting took place on  20 February 2023 and work in this regard  is  on-going. 

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, 

 Second,  the  Missing  Operational  Group  (MOG)  has  been  in  place for a significant  period  of 
time.  This  meeting  provides  governance  at  a  senior  leadership  level  for  all  aspects  of the 
missing  person  process.  There  is  representation  from  all  stakeholders  including  Force 
Contact  and  Force  Response.  The  MOG  agenda  entails  feedback  concerning  individual 
cases  where  certain  risk  factors  have  not  been  identified,  or where  the  response  has  not 
been  appropriate.  I anticipate  that the  concerns  raised  by  HM  Area  Coroner concerning  Mr 
Hamilton's case will  be  addressed  by MOG,  resulting  in  corrective  action,  including  targeted 
training.  Further,  priority  response  call  escalations  are  now  a  standing  agenda  item  each 
month at MOG. 

Third,  a full  review  has  been  conducted  concerning  the  recording  of  priority  response  logs 
and  internally generated  logs.  This  involved  work with  Force  Contact,  Force  Response  and 
Locate. While this was  part of a wider review process,  it incorporated  missing  persons at the 
front-end  reporting  stage and quality assurance activity. This was carried  out through weekly 
audits  and  weekly  senior leadership  meetings  to  discuss  individual  cases  or themes  where 
the  correct  risks  had  not  been  identified  during  call  handling.  To  support this  development, 
feedback  was  provided,  improvements  were  noted,  and  training  was  delivered  to  Force 
Contact staff by experienced  Locate supervisors. 

Fourth,  following  the  full  review,  a  'Support  Desk'  was  created.  This  entailed  continuity  of 
staff dealing with calls for service - including  missing  persons - with  an  increased  number of 
supervisors  in  post  to  review  and  scrutinise  the  work  of  support  staff.  This  provides  a 
focused training opportunity for Locate staff, as well as on-going  support. 

Fifth,  WMP  is  considering  whether to  establish  a  specialist  desk  within  Force  Contact  that 
will  entail  the same staff dealing with  more complex calls,  such  as  missing  persons.  This will 
ensure that Force Contact staff receive the right support and training as a continuation  of the 
'Support Desk'. 

Sixth,  detailed  audits  have  been  carried  out which  reveal  a marked  improvement from  2020 
to  2022.  While  there  is  still  work to  do,  the  audit  revealed  90%  compliance  with  the  '12  key 
questions'  and  100%  of  all  calls  audited  accurately  recorded,  and  correctly  applied,  the 
appropriate  risk  grading.  Just  2%  of  all  incidents  audited  in  2022  had  no  clear  full  risk 
assessment, compared to 66% in  2020. 

Seventh,  a pilot scheme was  recently implemented,  led  by the  Chief Inspector Missing  Lead 
for  Force  Response,  which  amends  the  response  to  missing  person  reports.  This  pilot 
scheme  entails  an  early  Inspector review  to  ensure  that the  right  response  is  in  place  from 
the outset,  that risk  is  correctly identified,  and  that there  is  ongoing  management throughout 
the  initial  stages of investigation  including  any required  escalation.  The  pilot scheme creates 
a central  point of control and  progression for all  missing  person  investigations. This is  an on-
going project and  a further update concerning the conclusion of the pilot scheme is awaited. 

Eighth,  the  Locate  learning  portal  is  in  the  final  stages  of design.  This  resource  will  adopt a 
new  approach  to  learning  which  will  provide  staff  with  a  toolkit  for  their  interactions  with 
missing  persons.  The  content  is  being  produced  in  consultation  with  key  stakeholders  and 
will  be  extended  to  add  partner information  where  appropriate.  Relatedly,  an  online  missing 
person  package  is  currently  available  on  WMP  systems,  which  is  regularly  refreshed. 
Officers are  requested  to  complete  the  package,  which  supports them  in  identifying  missing 
persons and  understanding  primary actions to  be taken. As  of October 2022,  more than 

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 2,100 WMP operational frontline officers have completed the  package.  This training  package 
is also embedded into student officer training. 

Ninth,  WMP  has  completed  an  upgrade  of  its  missing  persons  recording  system 
(COMPACT).  The  main  benefit  of  this  upgrade  is  to  ensure  that  the  police  prevention 
interview is  more detailed,  and  that relevant information  is  passed to other agencies  in  order 
to  support vulnerable  persons  in  a holistic way.  The  upgrade to  COMPACT prompts officers 
to  consider  things  such  as  presentation  and  wider  risk.  This  will  improve  the  overall 
approach  missing  persons  and  ensure  that  information  about  history  and  risk  are  properly 
documented  and  accessible.  Another  beneficial  feature  of  the  upgrade  is  that  it  allows 
improved  data  insight  into  high  demand  missing  locations  and  persons.  This  data  will  be 
used  to  understand  where  action  and  support  is  needed  to  support  missing  persons  and 
reduce future threat,  risk and  harm. 

I hope that the above response  provides you with  assurance of the steps taken by the  Force 
in  responding  to  reports  of missing  persons  and  its  continued  efforts seeking  to  improve  the 
service that we offer to our communities. 

Signed  in the absence of CC Guildford  by T/DCC 

Chief Constable 

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