THE number of boys in Council care that were reported missing has more than doubled in the past year.

New figures show that there were 568 incidents of "looked after" young people going missing in a six month period between April and Sept 2017. This was up from 472 in the same period in 2016.

Many of the incidents involved the same young people repeatedly being reported missing - 104 children were involved in the 2017 missing person incidents, up from 58 in 2016.

The rise was most dramatic in boys, where the figure leaped from 24 to 56 this year.

For girls the figure rose from 38 to 48.

The figures were presented to members of Bradford Council's Children's Services's Scrutiny Committee last night.

Of the 104 children in care reported missing in that period, 59 were aged between 10 and 15.

David Byrom, Head of Service (Through Care & Resources) told the committee the figure of children classed as missing was higher than in neighbouring authorities, as issues like grooming meant that authorities in Bradford were quicker to class children as missing as a precaution.

Councillor Sinead Engel (Lab, Clayton) raised the issue of the increase in boys going missing. She said: "There is a big jump, is that down to the current cohort we have in our care?"

Mr Byrom said: "There has been a significant increase in the numbers of looked after children, and we have moved some people who were cared for outside of Bradford back here."

The committee was told that the district's safeguarding board better recognised the risks of boys going missing, including the dangers of them being groomed, and this led to the group acting much faster when boys were reported missing.

A serious case review into a boy from the Bradford district, Jack, that was released earlier this year revealed that the teenager had been groomed by dozens of men, and highlighted the fact that it was not just girls who were targets of grooming.

Cllr Engel said: "The public sees appeals for missing children, and the same names keep coming up repeatedly, you do wonder what has been done about protecting these children long term?"

Jim Hopkinson, Deputy Director of Children’s Social Care at Bradford Council, said: "Any appeal for a missing child is a joint decision between ourselves and police. We agree that if we are significantly concerned about the whereabouts of a child, we will put something out. Some of the children in the appeals will be looked after, some won't. If a child isn't in care and they repeatedly go missing it might lead to that child being put on a child protection plan.

"If they are in care and they repeatedly go missing we may review if their placement is suitable for them. We can't just lock these children up, but we might consider changing where they are placed."

The committee were told that once missing children are found, the aim is to interview them within 24 hours. However, only 60 per cent of looked after children agree to these interviews.