MAPPA
The Criminal Justice Act (2003) provided the establishment of the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) in all areas of England and Wales. These arrangements are designed to protect the public, including previous victims of crime, from serious harm by sexual and violent offenders.
These arrangements require the local criminal justice agencies and other bodies dealing with offenders to work together in partnership in dealing with these offenders.
MAPPA is not a statutory body in itself, but is a vehicle by which a number of agencies working with Service Users (SU’s) can come together to better discharge their responsibilities and protect the public in a co-ordinated way.
This coming together is in itself achieved by meeting together regularly and agreeing actions or reviewing risks and risk management strategies.
Examples of the types of bodies/agencies you would expect to find attending these meetings are:
Police
National Probation Service (NPS)
Social Services
Other services (e.g. Community Rehabilitation Companies, Voluntary agencies).
What is the Purpose of MAPPA?
The purpose of MAPPA is to protect the public and reduce victims of crime from serious, sexual and violent offences.
To be MAPPA eligible, SU’s will need to present a high risk of serious harm, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
The way in which MAPPA operates is by bringing together local criminal justice agencies and other bodies that work together in partnership to help effectively manage SU’s.
How MAPPA operates
MAPPA is made up of a Responsible Authority that acts as the primary agency. This essentially means that a representative from the Responsible Authority has to and will always attend each meeting. The Responsible Authority will usually also chair the meetings.
The Responsible Authorities for MAPPA are:
The Police;
Prisons;
National Probation Service (NPS).
The official duty of the Responsible Authority is to ensure that the risks posed by specified sexual and violent offenders are assessed and managed appropriately.
In addition to the Responsible Authority, other agencies who manage or work with SU’s have a duty to co-operate with the Responsible Authority where required.
Service Users who are involved in MAPPA firstly need to be identified. This is achieved as a consequence of their conviction and/or sentence. Once this happens, a MAPPA Co-Coordinator should be notified (as appropriate) and so the MAPPA process begins.
The responsibility of identification and notification falls to the agency that has the leading statutory responsibility for the SU.
Which SUs does MAPPA apply to?
MAPPA will work with three Categories of SU, which need to be identified before sending a referral to the MAPPA co-ordinator.
These MAPPA Categories are:
Category 1 – Registered Sex Offenders;
Category 2 – Violent or other sexual offenders who have been sentenced to 12 months or more for an offence specified in Schedule 15 to the CJA 2003;
Category 3 – Other dangerous offenders and those which require a multi agency approach. This does not have to be a schedule 15 offence.
How are SU’s Managed?
MAPPA has 3 levels of management. They are:
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
| Single Agency Management
(Police and Probation count as one agency) |
Multi Agency Management (More than one agency) | Multi Agency Approach with senior representatives |
Once the Level is identified, the next action is for MAPPA participants (guided by the Chair and Responsible Officer) to consider the level of risk the SU poses and the Risk Management Plan (RMP) – See chapters on risk and risk management.
When a RMP is identified, MAPPA then helps to oversee its implementation and hold to account the parties identified as having actions. As a RO, you will be primarily in ‘control’ of co-ordination of this between MAPPA meetings.
MAPPA meetings
The vast majority of MAPPA offenders will be managed through the ordinary management of one agency, although this will usually involve the sharing of information with other relevant agencies.
The structural basis for the discussion of MAPPA offenders who need active inter-agency management, including their risk assessment and risk management, is the MAPP meeting. The Responsible Authority agencies and the MAPPA Co-ordinator are permanent members of these meetings (although it may not be possible for the MAPPA Co-ordinator to attend every meeting). DTC agencies are invited to attend for any offender in respect of whom they can provide additional support and management. The frequency of meetings depends on the level of management deemed appropriate for each offender.
Communication and VISOR
Storing and sharing information about offenders is essential to the multi-agency approach. Information is stored in a central database known as ViSOR, according to each Responsible Authority’s business model.
The practice of information-sharing between agencies is governed by certain principles. The guidance in this chapter draws on the Data Sharing Code of Practice issued in 2011 by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
MAPPA Co-ordination
One person has an important role in co-ordinating the work of the MAPPA agencies in each area. This is the MAPPA Co-ordinator. He or she works on behalf of the Responsible Authority and is accountable to the SMB. Most areas have a MAPPA Co-ordinator, although it is not a statutory role.
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC)
The Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) is part of a coordinated community response to domestic abuse, which aims to:
Share information to increase the safety, health and well-being of victims/survivors – adults and their children;
Determine whether the alleged perpetrator poses a significant risk to any particular individual or to the general community;
Construct jointly and implement a risk management plan that provides professional support to all those at risk and that reduces the risk of harm;
Reduce repeat victimisation;
Improve agency accountability;
Improve support for staff involved in high-risk domestic abuse cases.
How does MARAC operate?
MARAC focuses on the protection of those victims who are at a high risk of serious harm from domestic abuse.
As with a MAPPA meeting, a separate MARAC meeting is held where information is shared to enable an effective Risk Management Plan.
To avoid duplication of work, MARAC and MAPPA are co-ordinated in such a way as to provide the most effective response to victims. However the MAPPA meetings take precedence over MARAC’s. This is because MAPPA is a statutory set of arrangements.
Where an SU is a MAPPA offender and meets the criteria for Level 2 or 3 MAPPA management, and where the victim has been referred to the local MARAC, the Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVA) must be invited in addition to all those working with the SU.
MATAC
MATAC stands for Multi-Agency Tasking and Co-ordination;
MATAC is not currently a national initiative but many areas operate it;
MATAC can be described as an enhanced domestic abuse perpetrator project which aims to identify and target the most harmful perpetrators;
Where a MATAC operates, agencies are expected to co-operate and in providing information for meetings via a written report and possibly attendance;
It operates in a similar way to as MAPPA and MARAC in agencies coming together to provide intelligence and discuss interventions. These interventions include: support, prevention, diversion, disruption and enforcement.
If you would like to download the official MAPPA guidance, you can do this here:
