What is MAPPA?
Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements
The fundamental purpose of the MAPPA is public protection and the reduction of serious harm. The protection of children, adults at risk of harm, and other members of the public are paramount.
The MAPPA offers the potential for a co-ordinated approach to the management of people who commit sex offences and the critical few other high-risk offenders who pose a risk of serious harm by reason of their conviction/sentence, as assessed by Responsible Authorities such as Fife Council, Police Scotland, NHS Fife, and the Scottish Prison Service.
The principal responsibility to protect the public from offenders that fall within the MAPPA remit lies with the Responsible Authorities, but many other agencies play important roles in managing offenders in the community. It is through information sharing under a ‘duty to co-operate’ with the Responsible Authorities that a true understanding of offenders’ behaviours can be ascertained.
The core intention behind MAPPA is the reduction of the risk of serious harm. This is defined as 'the likelihood of harmful behaviour of a violent or sexual nature, which is life-threatening and/or traumatic, and from which recovery, whether physical or psychological, may reasonably be expected to be difficult or impossible'.