UK multi-agency teams that manage serious offenders in the community under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA), including Nottinghamshire are being seen as beacons of best practice in public protection by countries around the world. Countries that have expressed an interest in learning more about MAPPA are America, Canada, South Korea, Jamaica, Norway and Latvia. In the last couple of years, both Scotland and Northern Ireland have introduced MAPPA following its success in England and Wales.
MAPPA teams in England and Wales were put in place eight years ago to provide more robust management systems for those offenders who live in our communities through the sharing of information and expertise. The teams, comprising police, prison, probation and other relevant agencies ensure joint working and enhanced communication to effectively manage risk to the public.
Jane Geraghty, Chief Probation Officer and Chair of the Nottinghamshire MAPPA Strategic Management Board said: ‘The commitment of Criminal Justice Agencies and other key partners in Nottinghamshire evidences our commitment to public protection and responding to the needs of victims of crime across the area. I believe that the MAPPA Annual Report demonstrates this ongoing good work’.
Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Julia Hodson said: "Nottinghamshire Police is committed to working fully with all of our partners to reduce the risks presented by sexual and dangerous offenders. I anticipate that this year's MAPPA annual report will raise public confidence by demonstrating our commitment to public protection in its widest sense."
Publishing the eighth MAPPA annual reports, Justice Minister Maria Eagle said:
"Since the introduction of MAPPA eight years ago, other countries around the world view the arrangements as an important development in enhancing public protection against dangerous offenders in the community.
"The offenders dealt with under MAPPA can display extremely dangerous and unpredictable behaviour so the risk of further offences is ever present. That risk can never be eliminated entirely, but the majority of those subject to active MAPPA management do not seriously re-offend due to robust and effective management. The number of those who re-offend seriously has remained at around 0.5 per cent for the past four years.
"The MAPPA continue to develop and this year saw the issue of revised, extensive national MAPPA guidance to enhance consistency and accountability and the launch of a national MAPPA training manual to ensure that learning is embedded in public protection practice. We have also made significant changes to legislation in recent years to enhance public protection, including the sentence of imprisonment for public protection which ensures that certain offenders are not released until the Parole Board determines that it is safe to do so."
There are more offenders on the sexual offenders register which means more offenders subject by law to notification requirements and therefore being monitored by the police and other agencies.
In 2008, the Home Office began pilots to increase the amount of information about particular child sex offenders that is shared with the public. People can request information about an individual who has contact with their children. These pilots took place in four police areas and ended in September 2009. The pilots will now be evaluated with a view to considering a national roll out. Regardless of the outcome of that evaluation, there is a requirement in all cases of MAPPA-eligible offenders to consider, as a part of every review of the case, whether there is a need to disclose information about the offender. Information will be disclosed where this is required by the risk management plan.
Paul West, Chief Constable of West Mercia Police and ACPO lead for the Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders, said:
"Protecting the public from those sexual offenders and violent offenders who pose a risk of serious harm is a key role for the police service; however, we recognise that this cannot be achieved by any one agency working alone. For this reason, in recent years we have been part of a determined multi-agency approach to manage dangerous people and successful partnerships have been established nationally, regionally and locally. In particular, strong partnerships have been developed with the Probation Service and the Prison Service.
"Effective collaboration with partners within Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) is crucial to managing those individuals and ensuring strict compliance with notification requirements. These reports indicate an overall increase in compliance by Registered Sexual Offenders and demonstrate that the police service has continued to make good use of the legislative tools that are available to it, such as Sexual Offences Prevention Orders (SOPOs)
"The risks posed to the public by such offenders can never be completely eliminated, but the reports provide evidence that MAPPA successfully keeps them to a minimum and significantly enhances public safety."
The Ministry of Justice is now piloting mandatory polygraph tests for sex offenders in the community. The tests will help us determine whether the polygraph can be a useful additional tool in the management of sex offenders, in order to protect the public. It will be used alongside other processes in place to manage these offenders. The legislation was introduced in the 2007 Offender Management Act which enabled the pilot to be carried out on a mandatory basis for sex offenders subject to licence release from prison.
ViSOR - the database for sexual, violent and other dangerous offenders – is now in every probation area, police force and virtually every prison in England and Wales. This means a greater degree of supervision with all working on the same IT system to ensure timeliness of risk assessments and interventions to prevent re-offending.
