Madeleine McCann investigation to receive up to £192,000 extra funding, Home Office confirms
1 May 2024, 16:20
An additional £192,000 has been granted for the Scotland Yard investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the Home Office has confirmed.
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Up to £192,000 has been awarded to Scotland Yard in confirmation of the latest annual funding for Operation Grange.
The extra funding was revealed in a parliamentary written answer by Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom.
He also revealed as of March this year, the Metropolitan Police had so far spent £13.2 million investigating the case.
It comes just days before the 17th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance on May 3. It is also the same month as her 21st birthday.
Madeleine, who was three at the time, went missing from her bed when she was on holiday with her family in Portugal in 2007.
Responding to a parliamentary written question by Conservative peer Lord Black of Brentwood, Lord Sharpe said: "For the year 2024-25 the Home Office has agreed to provide up to £192,000 to the Metropolitan Police Service through special grant funding for Operation Grange, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
"At March 31 2024, the total cost of the investigation was £13.2 million."
He continued: “Operation Grange's special grant budget currently funds a team of three police officers and one member of police staff, all of whom operate on a part-time basis.
"Special grant funding is reviewed annually by the Home Office.
"The department also liaises regularly with the Operation Grange investigation team to assess progress and challenge the use of funds as necessary."
The prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance is currently on trial in Germany charged with unrelated sex offences, allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
The 47-year-old German, only known as Christian B because of the country's strict privacy laws, spent many years in Portugal - including in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was staying around the time of her disappearance.
He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in the resort town in 2005.
He had denied all the charges against him and any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.
