The surprising discovery was made in one part of Wales during discussions about children missing in education
13:35, 10 May 2025Updated 13:36, 10 May 2025
Two children “missing” from a Welsh school turned up in America, councillors have been told(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Two children “missing” from a Welsh school turned up in America, councillors have been told. Councils are required to keep track of children and identify if they are missing from education. Torfaen education officials, who were presenting information on school attendance at a council meeting, were questioned on ‘child missing in education’ procedures.
Fairwater Labour councillor Jayne Watkins asked how many cases of missing children the department had dealt with. Andy Rothwell, the council’s head of learning and achievement, replied: “Those cases not too many, last year five in total that we explored and shut down.
“There were two cases in America. It was discovered they’d moved to America and we were happy the local authority in America had eyes on those children.”
Mr Rothwell said the department works with the council’s benefits team, police and the HMRC tax authority to find where a child is if necessary and then a case can be “shut down.”
The meeting heard a school-to-school tracking system is also used and names are discussed at education panel meetings, meaning some children can be identified before the ‘missing in education’ procedures are required.
Mr Rothwell promised to share the procedures with Ms Watkins after she asked what was meant by the report stating that missing children are identified “quickly”.
He said the procedures set out what schools need to do and the necessary timeframe.