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In the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 the Government introduced new arrangements for public protection which imposed a duty on each of the 42 police and probation areas (the "responsible authorities") in England and Wales to work together to protect the public from sexual and violent offenders and other offenders who may cause serious harm to the public.
In Nottinghamshire there is an inter-agency agreement for this work - the Nottinghamshire Public Protection Protocol, guidance & procedures - signed up to by: - Probation, - Police, - County and City Councils, - County & City Health Authorities - County Healthcare Trust A senior probation officer was seconded to become the Multi-Agency Public Protection Panel manager working within police headquarters (CID) alongside the Dangerous Persons Management Unit.
Nottinghamshire has continued to build on these arrangements and develop them.
The Protocol sets out procedures for all partner agencies to follow and provides for a multi agency Risk Strategy meeting. This meeting can be convened by any agency concerned about, or holding responsibility for, an individual when they consider that the risks presented would be best managed by a multi-agency approach.
The purpose of the Risk Strategy meeting is to:
- share information
- make a joint assessment of what risks are posed
- consider the imminence of those risks, identifying any potential victims
- decide whether further agencies should be involved and where information should be passed on to increase protection of the public
- agree what actions each agency should take
If the individual is assessed as presenting the highest risk of serious harm to the community that individual is referred to the Multi-Agency Public Protection Panel. The Panel is reserved for only the most serious offenders within the agencies. Referrals are made to the MAPP Panel Manager. If the individual meets the right criteria the case will be heard at the next Panel Meeting.
The MAPP Panel meets monthly and comprises:
- Police,
- Probation,
- Child Protection and other Social Care Services
- The Health Services, Forensic Psychology
- Local Housing,
- the Prison Service,
- Youth Offending Teams
The City and County Social Care Services and Health Providers are included in the core membership.
The Panel comes to a joint assessment of what risks are posed and devises a risk management plan.
Risk management plans contain different agency actions or ways of limiting the opportunity for an individual to seriously harm another.
The decision to pursue a Sex Offender Order to manage a sex offender is always taken on a multi-agency basis at a Risk Strategy meeting or a Panel meeting.
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