Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA): national guidance

1. Introduction

1.1. This national guidance is in relation to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). MAPPA are a set of statutory partnership working arrangements introduced in 2007 by virtue of Sections 10 and 11 of The Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act).

1.2. This version of the national guidance reflects an on-going programme of revision to take account of new legislation as well as changes in guidance, policy and effective practice. The national guidance itself is issued under section 10(6) of the 2005 Act and provides the Responsible Authorities with Ministerial guidance on the discharge of their functions.

1.3. The fundamental purpose of MAPPA is public protection and managing the risk of serious harm. MAPPA is not a statutory body in itself but is a statutory framework through which the Responsible Authorities discharge their statutory responsibilities and protect the public in a co-ordinated manner.

1.4. The 2005 Act places a statutory duty on the Responsible Authorities in a local authority area to jointly establish arrangements for assessing and managing the risk posed by certain categories of individuals who are subject to MAPPA. It also provides for agencies who have a duty to co-operate (DTC) with the Responsible Authorities in relation to the management of individuals.

1.5. The Risk Management Authority (the RMA)^[1] issues guidelines and standards for the purpose of ensuring the effective assessment and minimisation of the risk of a person who has been convicted of an offence (or a person found not criminally responsible or unfit for trial under section 57 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995) presents to the safety of the public at large. Those who have functions in relation to the assessment and management of that risk (including the Responsible Authorities) are to have regard to the guidelines and standards issued by the RMA. The RMA defines "risk of serious harm"^[2] as: the likelihood of harmful behaviour of a violent or sexual nature which is life threatening and/or traumatic, and from which recovery, whether physical or psychological, may reasonably be expected to be difficult or impossible.

1.6. Section 10(7) of the 2005 Act details the Responsible Authorities for the area of a local authority as:

(a) The chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland (Police Scotland);

(b) The local authority;

(c) A Health Board or Special Health Board for an area any part of which is comprised within the area of the local authority; and

(d) Scottish Prison Service (SPS), an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government acting in exercise of their functions under the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 on behalf of the Scottish Minister.

1.7. This guidance relates to the operation of the provisions for the following categories of individuals:

(a) Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) – those individuals required to comply with the sex offender notification requirements (SONR) set out in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Full details on who is subject to SONR and details on the MAPPA process for this category of individual can be found in Chapter 5.

(b) Restricted Patients. Further details on Restricted Patients can be found in Chapter 10 of this guidance.

(c) Other Risk of Serious Harm Individuals – these are individuals who are not required to comply with the SONR or who are not Restricted Patients; but who by reason of their conviction; are considered by the Responsible Authorities to be persons who may cause serious harm to the public at large. Full details on who may be subject to MAPPA within this category and details of the MAPPA process relating to this category can be found in Chapter 9.

Human Rights and Diversity

1.8. MAPPA should reflect the Human Rights Act 1998 principles of necessity and proportionality and this must be considered in all actions carried out by the Responsible Authorities and the DTC agencies, both in terms of victim(s) and also in their plans to manage individuals who are subject to these arrangements.

1.9. MAPPA agencies must be free from discrimination and committed to equal access to services for all groups, particularly in relation to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. This means that all actions undertaken or recommended by MAPPA agencies, and all policies and procedures, will be based on assessments of risks and needs. They will not draw on stereotypical assumptions about groups that will be discriminatory in outcome.

1.10. As part of their work, MAPPA agencies will be sensitive and responsive to individual differences and needs. They will integrate this understanding into the delivery of their functions to ensure that nobody is disadvantaged as a result of belonging to a specific social group. To assist in achieving this, each of the Responsible Authorities must have in place plans to ensure that issues of diversity are addressed.