Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA): overview report 2019 to 2020

3.0 A summary of this work includes:

The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019

The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019, passed by the Scottish Parliament and received Royal Assent on 30 July 2019, provides a legislative basis for enhanced electronic monitoring capabilities including GPS & remote substance monitoring. However, the underpinning legislation around electronic monitoring will not be changing immediately. The new electronic monitoring contract commenced 1 April 2020 and any new use or technological capabilities will be commenced and will start at some point within the new 5 year contractual period.

The electronic monitoring service from April 2020 will initially just be the same radio frequency service that currently exists. The new electronic monitoring contract sets out at a contractual level some specific reporting timescales for MAPPA cases, which in most cases are not applicable as individual protocols are in place. To ensure any reporting timescales are tailored to the individual these protocols must provide clear and full instructions on what should happen in the event that there is an inability to monitor and be kept under review to ensure any instructions are current and risk based.

National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders (NASSO)

A revised strategy was published on 20 September 2019. This followed a review involving NASSO and MAPPA practitioners of how the NASSO's key principles were being applied in practice.

The revised strategy was issued to all the Responsible Authorities, Local Authority, Heads of Housing and Chief Executives of Registered Social Landlords. It was also discussed and publicised at Sex Offender Liaison Officer (SOLO) and Registered Social Landlord Link Officer Forums.

In June and October of 2019, respectively, the Registered Social Landlord Link Officer and SOLO Forums facilitated by Scotland's Housing Network considered the issue of information sharing. At the end of these sessions it was agreed that guidance be developed to cover the commonly recurring questions around information sharing between Link Officers and SOLOs. A working group met in February 2020 and the completed guidance is due to be published during 2020 and will complement the revised NASSO strategy.

Scoping work to develop a national inter-authority placement protocol for the housing of Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) will progress in early 2021.