Scottish Government MAPPA annual overview report 2016

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 by registered sex offenders, mentally disordered restricted patients and other risk of serious harm offenders.

The Police, SPS, Health and the Local Authorities are required to jointly establish arrangements for the assessment and management of risks 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 risk of serious harm 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 national IT system which facilitates inter-agency communication and ensures that the Responsible Authorities contribute, share and 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.

Under the terms of the 2005 Act, the Responsible Authorities are required to produce an annual report for submission to their local Community Justice Authority ( CJA) and the Scottish Ministers. Each of these reports are now published on the relevant CJA website and cover the reporting period - 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016. The web addresses where these reports can be viewed are included at Appendix A.

This report covers the ninth year of MAPPA in operation in Scotland and provides a picture 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 8 CJA.