Detectives have asked Home Office for more cash

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-madeleine-mccann-detectives-ask-13310450

Madeleine McCann detectives ask Home Office for more cash to search for missing youngster for another six months

EXCLUSIVE: Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal



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By
Martin Fricker,
09:48, 26 SEP 2018
Updated09:51, 26 SEP 2018

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeline McCann have asked for more funding to find the missing teen, the Mirror can reveal.

Scotland Yard applied to the Home Office yesterday for extra cash to extend Operation Grange for another six months.




Madeleine was three years old when she vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

The Portuguese police investigation into her May 2007 disappearance was shelved the following year.

Scotland Yard launched Operation Grange in 2011 and nearly £12m has been spent on their probe.

The government granted the Met an extra £154,000 in March to extend the probe for another six months.

It has now confirmed a request has been lodged for more cash up until March next year.

The Home Office says it is “considering” the request, which would be paid from Special Grant funding.

It also denied reports Operation Grange would finish by the end of the month if funding is not granted.

A spokesman said: “We have received and are considering a request to extend funding for Operation Grange until the end of March 2019.

“Funding for Special Grant applications can be paid retrospectively for operational work already done in the same financial year.

“It is therefore incorrect to suggest that the MPS would have to discontinue its operational work after 30 September 2018 unless additional funds were provided in advance of this date.

“The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding funding for Operation Grange.”

“Special Grant funding is usually available to police forces when they face significant or exceptional costs.

“The cost of Operation Grange – which, to date, is £11.6m – has been met through Special Grant funding.”

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann vowed earlier this month that “the search will go on” even if Operation Grange is shelved.

The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, say they have no plans to give up the hunt for their daughter, who would now be 15.

Kate and Gerry, both 50, were dining with friends in a tapas restaurant when she disappeared from the Ocean Club complex.

At its height there were 29 full-time officers working on Operation Grange, but it now has just four detectives.

More than 60 persons of interest have been investigated and 650 sex offenders considered possible suspects.

There have been nearly 9,000 reported sightings of Madeleine around the world since her disappearance.

https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2018/09/25/home-office-in-the-media/


Funding for Operation Grange

Posted by: HO News Team, Posted on: 25 September 2018 - Categories: Leading stories, Reactive statements, Uncategorised


The Home Office responds to media coverage on funding for Operation Grange.
There has been media coverage of funding for Operation Grange, the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) operation concerning the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Some of the recent coverage has suggested that funding for Operation Grange will expire on 30 September 2018, and that the MPS will be unable to continue the operation thereafter unless additional funds are provided.

We have received and are considering a request from the MPS to extend funding for Operation Grange until the end of March 2019.

Funding for Special Grant applications can be paid retrospectively for operational work already done in the same financial year. It is therefore incorrect to suggest that the MPS would have to discontinue its operational work after 30 September 2018 unless additional funds were provided in advance of this date.

The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding funding for Operation Grange.

Special Grant funding is usually available to police forces when they face significant or exceptional costs. The cost of Operation Grange – which, to date, is £11.6m – has been met through Special Grant funding.

As usual, full details of any Special Grant awards in 2018/19 will be published after the end of the financial year.

If it wasn't so arrogantly, openly and bed wettingly blatant what the next statement from the Home Office will say... This could be a set for a Brian Rix farce.

What a frightening exaggerated abuse of public funds. And to think the enquiry does not even consider the McCanns and friends as suspects.