30 Jan 2025 Liam Stephen Allan · Prevention of Future Deaths report West London
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Concerns raised 2 Delays in police alerting of the LFB and subsequent emergency response View source Inadequate visibility of riverside buoyancy aids View source
No linked response statements No action or position from this recipient is clearly linked to the concerns in this report.
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AI-generated summary
Liam Stephen Allan · Prevention of Future Deaths report
This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.
Report summary
Liam Stephen Allan was arrested alongside the River Thames on the evening of 26 August 2022, entered the river, and drowned. The report identified concerns about inadequate lighting and visibility of riverside buoyancy aids, and about delays in alerting the London Fire Brigade because notification was made by telephone rather than through the faster CAD-mediated system.
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× Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Delays in police alerting of the LFB and subsequent emergency response
Wider context from the report “The process for alerting the LFB by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) uses a telephone to transmit information from the MPS to the LFB , rather than using a CAD-mediated system to transfer information electronically from the Police to the LFB which is faster than transmitting information by telephone . This delay means that there is a risk that future deaths could occur due to a delay in the LFB being alerted by the Police and a corresponding delay to the LFB's subsequent response to an emergency incident .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Inadequate visibility of riverside buoyancy aids
Wider context from the report “The lighting of buoyancy aids on the riverside is not adequate , meaning that they are not able to be identified rapidly and then deployed without delay in an emergency situation.
Buoyancy aids are more visible when painted with white stripes and/or reflective white stripes. However, not all buoyancy aids are so painted , meaning that they are not able to be identified rapidly and then deployed without delay in an emergency situation.
” Open source report
28 Aug 2014 Lauren Barfoot · Prevention of Future Deaths report Inner South London
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Concerns raised 5 Failure to classify a missing person as high risk when warranted View source Failure to relay full and detailed high-risk information to the missing persons unit View source Failure to hold a timely strategy meeting to pool information and resources for an effective search View source Failure to carry out an effective search for a missing person View source Failure to record and make accessible comprehensive contact information for people who could assist in a search View source See 2 more concerns
Actions described in response An action is something this recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised. 4
Action
Return information about a missing young person’s associations to, and hold it centrally within, the Placements Service.
View source
Action
Send residential providers letters and proformas requiring them to maintain up-to-date lists of a young person’s associations.
View source
Action
Hold missing looked-after children’s strategy meetings within prescribed timescales, oversee their timeliness, and monitor performance through monthly reports and meetings.
View source
Action
Prepare risk assessment reports for missing looked-after children’s strategy meetings and pass them to police to inform search-risk and resource decisions.
View source See 1 more action
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AI-generated summary
Lauren Barfoot · Prevention of Future Deaths report
This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.
Report summary
Lauren Barfoot was a 14-year-old looked-after child who went missing from Micawber House on 22 June 2012 and was later discovered in the porch of her putative father’s home. The report identified concerns about failures to share information, classify the level of risk, conduct an effective search, and hold a timely strategy meeting. The inquest concluded that her accidental death was contributed to by failures in sharing information and pooling and using resources.
Read the report on judiciary.uk
× Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure to classify a missing person as high risk when warranted
Wider context from the report “(3) There was a failure by the MPS Missing Person's Unit (Greenwich) to carry out an effective search for Lauren as a consequence of the lack of information not shared with the Unit by those responsible for looking after and searching for Lauren, and therefore a missed opportunity for the Missing Person's Unit to classify Lauren as a “high risk missing person” .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure to relay full and detailed high-risk information to the missing persons unit
Wider context from the report “(2) There was a failure by Ethelbert’s Children’s Services to relay full and detailed information to the Missing Person’s Unit (Greenwich) as to the level of risk classified as “high” in relation to Lauren’s misuse of solvent abuse and vulnerability of sexual exploitation .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure to hold a timely strategy meeting to pool information and resources for an effective search
Wider context from the report “(4) There was a failure by the London Borough of Bexley to hold a timely “strategy meeting” by those concerned in the care for Lauren after she had been missing for several days in order to pool information and resources in order to carry out an effective search for Lauren .
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure to carry out an effective search for a missing person
Wider context from the report “(3) There was a failure by the MPS Missing Person's Unit (Greenwich) to carry out an effective search for Lauren as a consequence of the lack of information not shared with the Unit by those responsible for looking after and searching for Lauren, and therefore a missed opportunity for the Missing Person's Unit to classify Lauren as a “high risk missing person”.
” Open source report × Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to London Borough of Bexley; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation Failure to record and make accessible comprehensive contact information for people who could assist in a search
Wider context from the report “(1) There was a failure by the London Borough of Bexley Social Services to record and make accessible, a comprehensive list of Lauren’s friends, family and acquaintances and their addresses and contact numbers , with whom contact could be made in order to assist professionals in an effective search for Lauren.
” Open source report
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Return information about a missing young person’s associations to, and hold it centrally within, the Placements Service.
Verbatim wording from the response “Bexley Children’s Social Care sends a letter and proforma document recording the associations of young people to all residential providers. Previously, Bexley relied on the residential providers own protocols in respect of missing children. It was identified that these varied across the country. The letter and proforma also sets out expectations regarding having an up to date list available. By Bexley giving providers the process and pro-forma documents, we can be confident that when a child goes missing they are aware of our expectations in collecting information on” Source location 2014-0385-Response-by-Bexley-Borough-Council
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Send residential providers letters and proformas requiring them to maintain up-to-date lists of a young person’s associations.
Verbatim wording from the response “Bexley Children’s Social Care sends a letter and proforma document recording the associations of young people to all residential providers. Previously, Bexley relied on the residential providers own protocols in respect of missing children. It was identified that these varied across the country. The letter and proforma also sets out expectations regarding having an up to date list available. By Bexley giving providers the process and pro-forma documents, we can be confident that when a child goes missing they are aware of our expectations in collecting information on” Source location 2014-0385-Response-by-Bexley-Borough-Council
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Hold missing looked-after children’s strategy meetings within prescribed timescales, oversee their timeliness, and monitor performance through monthly reports and meetings.
Verbatim wording from the response “Strategy meetings for missing looked after children are held within the timescales set out in the “Children who go missing from Home or Care Practice Guidance” implemented in May 2013. The holding of the strategy meetings are overseen by the manager for the ‘looked after’ Independent Reviewing Officer service. The timeliness of ‘missing’ strategy meetings is tracked in monthly performance reports and meetings, to ensure good practice is maintained.” Source location 2014-0385-Response-by-Bexley-Borough-Council
Open published response
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Source evidence
How this respondent action was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.
PFD Monitor interpretation Prepare risk assessment reports for missing looked-after children’s strategy meetings and pass them to police to inform search-risk and resource decisions.
Verbatim wording from the response “A risk assessment report is required in preparation for any strategy meetings for missing looked after children. A strategy meeting is held within three days of a child going missing. The social worker will provide a risk assessment report to the meeting in accordance with the Bexley Practice Guidance pro-forma for assessing risk. The meeting is chaired by the Independent Reviewing Officer for the child. The risk assessment report requires comprehensive information about all possible contacts and locations where the child may be found, including any information known about risks presenting to the young person. The risk assessment report will be passed to the police at the strategy meeting in order that they can assess the level of risk and resources required so that they can carry out an effective search for the missing young person.” Source location 2014-0385-Response-by-Bexley-Borough-Council
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Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations