22 October 2007
Reports into the management of offenders under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are being published today (22 October). MAPPA enables the responsible authorities (police, prisons, and probation) to identify and manage offenders in the community through the sharing of information and expertise.
This is the sixth year in which annual reports by the 42 Responsible Areas in England and Wales have been published, following the implementation of MAPPA in 2001. The reports highlight the work undertaken through MAPPA to protect communities from the risk posed by dangerous offenders.
Maria Eagle, Under-Secretary of State for Justice said,
"Protecting the public is of paramount importance to the Government. We have one of the most advanced systems in the world for monitoring and managing dangerous offenders. MAPPA protects the public by providing robust communication and sharing of information between all responsible authorities, but we are not complacent and continue to look for ways to improve how we manage these offenders, and how best to support those responsible for the task locally.
"In June, the Home Office published the child sex offender review which sets out plans to strengthen the disclosure, registration, accommodation, management and treatment of child sex offenders. Legislation for these changes is currently going through parliament in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill. We then established the National Offender Management Service Public Protection Board to identify and drive up best practice in public protection work and we are about to issue national MAPPA standards. We continue to strengthen the law on sex offenders, and have introduced the indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) for offenders who commit serious offences.
"This month also sees the start of roll-out of the Violent and Sex Offender Register (ViSOR) to every Probation and Prison establishment in England and Wales. For the first time Police, Probation and Prison Services, will be working on the same IT system, thus improving the quality and timeliness of risk assessments and interventions to prevent re-offending. We have also worked hard with MAPPA Areas over the past year to strengthened our review processes to ensure that we build on the lessons learned from reviews of cases of re-offending under supervision."
Roger Hill Director of the Probation Service said,
"The probation service works closely with the other responsible authorities on this highest of priorities. The role is very challenging and demanding. The MAPPA annual reports offer an excellent opportunity to see how the most dangerous offenders are managed and to see the tireless efforts of staff to ensure that the protection of the public and reduction in re-offending is kept at the forefront of their work.
"There are no easy solutions with offenders having such complex histories and multiple needs but here we see detailed sentence planning, careful monitoring and swift intervention before behaviour escalates to serious re-offending."
Terry Grange, Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police and ACPO Public Protection spokesman said,
"Police officers across England and Wales ensure strict compliance with the sex offender register and the reports today highlight that staff are not shying away from dealing with offenders who breach their registration requirements. The recently published child sex offender review is looking to expand the length of registration requirements to include items such as DNA samples and e-mail addresses.
"The police work closely within MAPPA to ensure protection of the public comes first. We have been using the Violent and Sex Offenders (ViSOR) database for a couple of years and this has ensured better risk assessments, linked-up intelligence and quicker information sharing between forces. I welcome the work that the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is doing to roll out ViSOR to the Probation and Prison Services as this will further improve public protection arrangements."
Notes to Editors
1. The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act (2000) established the MAPPA and placed them on a statutory basis. The Criminal Justice Act (2003) re-enacted and strengthened those provisions. The legislation requires the Police, Prison and Probation Services (acting jointly as the 'Responsible Authority') in each of the 42 areas of England and Wales:
- to establish arrangements for assessing and managing the risks posed by sexual and violent offenders;
- to review and monitor the arrangements;
- as part of the reviewing and monitoring arrangements, to prepare and publish an annual report on their operation.
2. A range of other agencies have also been placed under a duty to co-operate with the Responsible Authority. These include:
- Local Authority Social Services
- Primary Care Trusts, other NHS Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities
- Jobcentres Plus
- Youth Offending Teams
- Registered Social Landlords which accommodate MAPPA offenders
- Local Housing Authorities
- Local Education Authorities
- Electronic Monitoring providers
3. There is also a requirement to appointment two lay advisors to each of strategic management boards that review the MAPPA.
4. MAPPA is the term to describe the arrangements set up locally to assess and manage offenders who pose a risk of serious harm. National MAPPA guidance indicates the use of 3 levels of management:
Level 1: involves ordinary agency management
Level 2: referred to as local inter-agency management, where the active involvement of more than one agency is required to manage the offender. Most offenders assessed as high or very high risk of serious harm can be managed at Level 2 where the management plans do not require the oversight and commitment of resources at a senior level.
Level 3: Level 3 activity meetings are known in all Areas as Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels (or MAPPPs). The few cases referred to MAPPPs are those of offenders whose management is so problematic that multi-agency co-operation and oversight at a senior level is required, together with the authority to commit exceptional resources.
5. There are three categories of offenders managed through MAPPA.
Category 1: Registered Sex Offenders offenders required to comply with the notification requirements (often referred to as registration) set out in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Category 2: Violent or other sex offenders violent offenders sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months or more, sex offenders not required to register, and offenders detained under hospital orders.
Category 3: Other Offenders - offenders who do not fall into categories 1 or 2, but because of the offences committed by them (wherever they have been committed) are considered to pose a risk of serious harm to the public
6. Sexual Offences Prevention Orders, Notification Orders and Foreign Travel Orders are intervention tools that restrict the behaviour of offenders and can be applied for through the courts with the intention of preventing them committing serious further offences.
Sexual Offences Prevention Orders place prohibitions on behaviour and can be used where an offender with a conviction or caution for an offence listed in Schedule 3 or Schedule 5 is considered to pose a risk of serious sexual harm. It does not matter when the conviction or caution was received.
Notification Orders require sexual offenders who have been convicted overseas to register with police, in order to protect the public in the UK from the risks that they pose.
Foreign Travel Orders prevent offenders with convictions for sexual offences against children from traveling abroad where it is necessary to do so to protect children from the risk of sexual harm.
A breach of these orders, without reasonable excuse, is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.
7. Copies of the 42 MAPPA reports are available on the Probation Service website.
8. For further information please call Joanna Jacobson, Ministry of Justice Press Office on 0207 210 8668.
National statistics for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) annual reports 2006/07 [PDF 0.05mb, 3 pages]