Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005
Sections 10 and 11 of the Act provide the statutory basis for the operation of MAPPA.
MAPPA in itself is not a statutory development but a means for the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS), local authorities and the police to “jointly establish arrangements for the assessment and the management of risks posed by certain categories of offenders”.
These agencies are considered “responsible authorities” and have specific responsibilities under the legislation. In addition, the health board is also considered to be a responsible authority in relation to mentally disordered offenders.
n terms of the local authority, although most action will be taken by Criminal Justice Social Work (CJSW), it is the authority as a whole that holds the responsibilities and so there is an expectation that different local authority functions will work together to meet the corporate responsibility.
It is also true that corporate responsibility is held by the individual responsible authorities and not solely the specialist departments. For example, all police and health staff will take responsibility as and when required.
Sections 10(3) and (4) of the Act stipulate that in establishing and implementing the joint arrangements, the responsible authorities must act co-operatively with the duty to co-operate agencies, who are specified by the Scottish Parliament. Co-operation specifically includes the duty to share information.
A variety of agencies have been identified as duty to co-operate, including registered social landlords, SACRO, (an independent sector provider who provide intensive support services to certain offenders) G4S (the company responsible for electronic tagging) and any organisation providing services in respect of risk management on behalf of a responsible authority. The health board is also considered a duty to co-operate agency in circumstances where the offender is not mentally disordered.
The Lanarkshire MAPPA Strategic Oversight Group meets regularly and monitors and reviews how the above Public Protection Arrangements are working in this area.
Permanent members include senior representatives of South and North Lanarkshire Councils, Police Scotland, Lanarkshire NHS, Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS and the Scottish Prison Service.