Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) Scotland: national overview report 2016 to 2017

1.0 Background

The Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements ( MAPPA), are a set of statutory partnership working arrangements introduced in 2007 under Section 10 of the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005.

The purpose of MAPPA is public protection and the reduction of serious harm. In Scotland the MAPPA brings together the Police, Scottish Prison Service ( SPS), Health and the Local Authorities, in partnership as the Responsible Authorities, to assess and manage the risk posed for certain categories of offender:

• Sex offenders who are subject to notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

• Mentally disordered restricted patients.

• Other offenders who are assessed by the Responsible Authorities as posing a risk of serious harm by reason of their conviction.

A number of other agencies are under a duty to co-operate with the Responsible Authorities and include housing providers, the voluntary sector and the Children's Reporter.

MAPPA is supported by the Violent and Sex Offender Register ( ViSOR). This is a UK-wide IT system which facilitates inter-agency communication and ensures that the Responsible Authorities contribute, share and securely store critical information about MAPPA offenders. It improves the capacity to share intelligence and supports the immediate transfer of key information when offenders move between areas.

Since the commencement of the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 in April 2017, MAPPA continues to operate under the same arrangements and partners, utilising the boundaries of the former eight Community Justice Authorities ( CJAs).

Responsible Authorities fulfil their statutory duties by jointly preparing and publishing MAPPA annual reports. Each of these reports can be viewed on Local Authority websites as included at Appendix A and cover the reporting period – 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017.

This report covers the tenth year of MAPPA in operation in Scotland and provides an overview of the main national developments in relation to MAPPA as a result of work conducted by the Scottish Government, and its partners. The statistics provided at Appendix B are an aggregate of data collated via the CJAs.