Scottish Government

NATIONAL PICTURE IN SCOTLAND

(Provided by the National MAPPA Coordinator for Scotland)

What is MAPPA?

• The Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Police, Local Authorities, Prison Service and Health (the responsible authorities), to establish joint arrangements for the assessment and management of risk posed by certain offenders.
• The agreed structure to deliver these joint arrangements is the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements ( MAPPA)
• The MAPPA has been developed for Scotland, based on identified best practice, and is designed to manage the risk posed by certain sexual and violent offenders.
• A number of other agencies are under a duty to co-operate with the responsible authorities within the MAPPA.

How does MAPPA work?

• Offenders eligible for MAPPA are identified and information about them is gathered and shared across relevant agencies. The nature and level of the risk of harm they pose is assessed and a risk management plan is implemented to protect the public. The arrangements are overseen by a local strategic group with representation from all the responsible authorities.
• In most cases, the offender will be managed under the ordinary arrangements applied by the agency with supervisory responsibility. A number of offenders, though, require active multi-agency management and their risk management plans will be agreed via MAPPA meetings.
• Every Community Justice Authority area in Scotland is supported by at least one MAPPA coordinator which is a senior post and has the responsibility of negotiating with senior managers in the responsible authorities to ensure the correct decisions and referrals are being made. They also have quality assurance duties amongst many other critical functions within the process.

Which offenders are included within MAPPA?

• In Scotland the implementation of the MAPPA arrangements have been phased. During the first year, registered sex offenders were included and this second year saw the inclusion of restricted patients.

National Developments

• National oversight of MAPPA is through the Tripartite Group which is chaired by the Scottish Government and has representation from all the responsible authorities.
• Work is ongoing to agree the operational detail of how violent and other dangerous offenders will be included in MAPPA although it should be noted that such people are already managed by the responsible authorities within their existing individual statutory responsibilities.
• The revision of the MAPPA guidance is in progress and will include additional information on critical incident review, quality assurance and strategic governance.
• Linked to the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders, each area now has Sex Offender Liaison Officers for housing. These posts will engage with MAPPA and will enhance existing information sharing processes.

FURTHER INFORMATION

• Public information leaflets and further detailed information about MAPPA and related matters can be found on the Scottish Government website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/public-safety/offender-management/protection