Multi Agency Public Protection (MAPPA) National Guidance 2014

12 Offenders within the Prison System

1 When an offender is sentenced to a period of imprisonment and the conviction requires the person to be subject to the SONR, Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements are put in place. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) acts as the lead responsible authority until the offender is released from custody.

2 All convicted offenders are managed via the Integrated Case Management (ICM) process which operates on two levels, Standard and Enhanced. The Enhanced ICM process applies where offenders are subject to post-release supervision (i.e. all sex offenders sentenced to six months or more in prison, all offenders sentenced to four years or more and all offenders sentenced to less than four years in prison whose conviction includes an element of post-release supervision).

3 The Enhanced ICM process represents a joint approach to the assessment and management of risk. Prison staff and prison-based social workers carry out a joint assessment of the risks presented by offenders and work together to create an individualised action plan aimed at addressing risks through a range of appropriately sequenced interventions. This process is facilitated through a case conference approach (in which the offender's participation is actively encouraged) which involves a range of professionals across the criminal justice system, including community-based social workers and, where appropriate, the police and Health.

4 Prior to progression to less secure conditions or community access, a formal notification should be issued to the police with a request for relevant information which may inform the SPS decision on progression. Early engagement with the police should also take place in cases where an offender has been assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm to the public.

Progression through the prison system

5 The risk assessments carried out as part of ICM inform decisions on how the offender will be managed both during the custodial period and upon transition to the community. An important element of this transition is progression though the prison system. Offenders may, as they approach their release date, progress to less secure conditions such as a national 'top-end' facility, where controlled access to the community is allowed to help prepare offenders for their release. This controlled access to the community may take the form of work placements and/or Special Escorted Leave.

6 The Open Estate also plays a vital role in preparing offenders for release. When transferred to the Open Estate, offenders can - in addition to work placements and escorted/unescorted leave - benefit from access to the Home Leave Scheme (provided a positive Home Background Report is submitted by community-based Social Work confirming the required community supports are in place).

7 A robust risk assessment is completed prior to progression from the closed estate. In the spirit of partnership working, the decision to allow an offender to progress is made by a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary team, Chaired by the prison's Governor/Deputy Governor.

8 It has been widely recognised that formal arrangements for managing offenders commence at the point of release. That said, however, the risk assessment process as offenders gain community access through the progression process prior to the point of release must be viewed as a continuum. Criminal Justice Agencies should ensure that appropriate steps are taken to provide an effective mechanism for ensuring the public are protected from harmful offending.

9 The decision to grant an offender access to the community prior to release from prison is owned by the SPS as the lead responsible authority. However, to ensure all relevant and appropriate information is taken into account during the decision-making process, SPS welcomes the input of community partners.

10 Prior to consideration of progression, SPS invites input from the police while community-based Social Work is preparing the Home Background Report. This is typically around six weeks prior to the progression case conference. At this point, where an offender is being considered for progression to less secure conditions, SPS will issue a formal MAPPA Notification to the MAPPA coordinators covering both the area local to the prison and also the area which is considered the home area of the prisoner. The home area is more likely to be aware of the background information on the offender and the local prison area will be aware of the environmental factors which will require to be considered prior to the decision being made in respect of community access.

11 Justice Directorate Circular 3/2010 provides further information in respect of the home leave process.

Pre-release/Release

12 All sex offenders, whether in custody for their index offence or otherwise, sentenced to six months or more in custody are subject to the Enhanced ICM process. Offenders subject to the Parole process are managed in a similar manner with the obvious additional considerations that surround decisions on release (i.e. in such cases, the actual release date is not known until the Parole Board for Scotland reach their decision). In this respect - for the purposes of ICM - the Parole Qualifying Date (PQD) is treated as a release date and used to schedule the pre-release case conference and issue the appropriate MAPPA Referral. Where release on Parole is refused, subsequent review dates are set (the number of reviews will depend upon the length of time between the original PQD and the Earliest Date of Liberation); these review dates will be treated in the same manner, i.e. treated as potential release dates for the purposes of ICM until the Earliest Date of Liberation is reached and the offender is released on non-parole licence. The same process applies to indeterminate sentence offenders.

13 Prior to release, the ICM (pre-release) case conference is used to establish the offender's continued level of risk and recommend the level of multi-agency management required upon release (i.e. MAPPA level 1, 2 or 3). Such considerations will be informed by the offender's response to community access (where this has been granted as part of the progression process) and to prison-based interventions.

14 Where an offender will be managed at MAPPA level 3, the SPS will attend MAPPP meetings in the community prior to release. In certain circumstances, the SPS may also attend MAPPA Level 2 meetings in the community, although this is not a formal requirement and consideration of whether SPS attendance is required (and appropriate) at Level 2 meetings is on a case-by-case basis.

15 The notification processes for offenders released from prison under MAPPA are detailed on the following pages. Further detail on the ICM process can be found at: http://www.sps.gov.uk/Publications/Publication186.aspx