A bill named after missing Claudia Lawrence passed in the Commons today after its third reading, and now needs to pass in the House of Lords before becoming law.
Claudia was a chef at Goodricke College before her disappearance in 2009.
The proposed law, formally known as the ‘Guardianship (Missing Persons) Bill’, would allow relatives to manage the affairs and finances of a missing person, giving them the right to handle payments from 90 days after a person is reported missing.
Currently, families are often unable to intervene to save a missing person’s finances, risking insolvency.
Kevin Hollinrake MP, who introduced the bill, praised Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, and Nigel Adams, the MP for Selby and Ainsty for their hard work on the bill, and paid tribute to Claudia’s parents for their campaigning efforts on the legislation.
North Yorkshire Police have treated Claudia Lawrence’s disappearance as a murder investigation. However, the case remains unsolved despite an exhaustive three-year review of all the evidence.
Nine people were arrested or interviewed during the review, but there was insufficient evidence for any charges.
Since January, the investigation has moved to a reactive phase, whereby only new and compelling evidence will be reviewed.
In a statement on Twitter last week on the eighth anniversary of Claudia’s disappearance, North Yorkshire Police said: “We will never give up on Claudia Lawrence”.