Missing People and Staffordshire Police have today signed a partnership agreement to ensure missing people and their families in Staffordshire are provided with better support.

The agreement sets out the roles and responsibilities for both Missing People and Staffordshire Police in tackling the issue. It details how support to the families of missing people will be provided, including ensuring that families are informed of the role of the charity and the support services available to them.

Missing People have already been signed a partnership agreement with Warwickshire Police and are due to do so with West Mercia and West Midlands Police in the coming months. This initiative builds upon strategic agreements signed in February 2011 between Missing People and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA).

Assistant Chief Constable Julian Blazeby said: “It is vital that everyone with a role to play in safeguarding and providing support works together in order to give the right help and advice to those who need it the most.

“It also supports the government’s expectation that the police will ensure all families of missing people are automatically signposted to support services.”