Section 1: Introduction by MAPPA Management Group Chair
I am delighted to introduce the second MAPPA Annual Report for 2008/09 to highlight some of our achievements over the past year and to outline work we will take forward over the next year.
The MAPPA Management Group, comprising senior representatives from local authorities, Scottish Prison Service, housing providers and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Highland, has continued to meet six-monthly to monitor and evaluate the implementation of MAPPA.
Within the past year, we continued work on the Memorandum of Understanding for responsible authorities as well as contributing to the development of the West of Scotland Sex Offender and Information Sharing Protocol. These represent substantial achievements to ensure consistent and effective management of high risk offenders to enhance public protection. Within the North Strathclyde area we are developing this work further in the form of a common environmental scanning procedure to ensure all relevant agencies contribute to the identification of appropriate accommodation for offenders subject to MAPPA.
Mentally disordered offenders subject to Orders of Restriction have also been integrated to MAPPA, where NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Highland are responsible authorities.
Meanwhile, in recognition that public protection arrangements do not sit apart from established child and adult protection measures, agencies are continuing to develop clearer links between adult, child and public protection to ensure effective information sharing, joint working and improved understanding for staff.
The recently published multi-agency inspection of assessment and management of offenders who present a high risk of serious harm will inform the work for the MAPPA Management Group over the coming year to make preparation for the future inclusion of violent offenders within MAPPA.
In addition, ongoing development of effective performance management information from all agencies within the MAPPA process will assist with the management of limited resources available to manage high risk offenders - here the work of the MAPPA Working Group continues to be particularly important.
I hope that you find this report informative and helpful regarding how agencies across the North Strathclyde area have been working together to manage high risk offenders, as well as setting out our key objectives for 2009/10.
Safaa Baxter
Chair
MAPPA Management Group (North Strathclyde)