There is a legal duty on Police Scotland, the Local Authority, the Scottish Prison Service and NHS Lothian as Responsible Authorities, to establish arrangements for the assessment and management of risk posed.  In addition, a range of other agencies that come across offenders who are managed under MAPPA have a duty to co-operate with the Responsible Authorities. These include, for example, Registered Social Landlords, Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration. 

There are three categories of offenders managed under MAPPA. 

Category 1: Registered Sex Offenders

Category 2: Restricted Patients are persons who are subject to a compulsion order with a restriction order who following a finding of being unfit for trial or acquittal by reason of a mental illness. This also includes prisoners who are transferred from a prison to a secure hospital for treatment due to a mental illness. 

Category 3: other serious risk of harm offenders who do not meet the criteria for category 1 or 2 but who by reason of their conviction and considered by the Responsible Authorities to be persons who may cause serious harm to the public at large. 

Within MAPPA there are three risk management levels. These are:

Level 1: Routine Risk Management 

Level 2: Multi-Agency Risk Management, and 

Level 3: Multi-Agency Risk Management Panels. 

The largest proportion of all individuals subject to MAPPA are assessed and managed at Level 1. The process of level 2 is implemented where the risk management plan requires the involvement of multiple agencies to reduce the risk of serious harm posed by an offender. For Level 3 the risk of serious harm they present is such a high level and/or the level of resources required to manage the risk of serious harm is significantly higher than what would routinely be applied that it requires senior representatives to attend to endorse strategies required to manage the risk posed. 

Many sex offenders are required to register for long periods of time, while others are on the register for relative short periods, dependent on the sentence the individual received at court. This influences the total number of offenders required to register at any one time and, therefore, the numbers can change. 

The number of registered sex offenders in East Lothian and Midlothian managed by services is relatively small, at 0.06% of their population.

Risk of serious harm 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. For MAPPA purposes the imminence and likelihood of risk of serious harm is classified as follows:

Very High: there is an imminent risk of serious harm. The potential event is more likely than not to happen imminently, and the impact would be serious.

High: there are identifiable indicators of risk of serious harm. The potential event could happen at any time and the impact would be serious.  

Medium: there are identifiable indicators of serious harm. The individual has the potential to cause such harm, but is unlikely to do so unless there is a change in circumstances, for example failure to take medication, loss of accommodation, relationship breakdown, drug, or alcohol misuse; and

Low: current evidence does not indicate likelihood of causing serious harm. 

When an individual is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offence, the Sheriff or Judge will decide on the sentence. They are independent. They make their decisions based on what the law says and the unique circumstances of each case. No two cases will ever be exactly the same. 

When making a sentencing decision, the Sheriff or Judge will consider victim impact and impact on the wider community as well as the background of the offender.

MAPPA supports the effective management of these offenders.

Although the primary focus of MAPPA is to manage the risks presented by individuals MAPPA must identify and where appropriate engage with victims, and potential victims, to inform the risk assessment on which the risk management plan is based.  Details passed on by victims can be used to understand how an offender operates and hopefully prevent further offences from being committed.  Information provided by victims about risk and behaviour is unlikely to be available from any other source and so this work makes a very real and important contribution to community safety and helps to address issues of risk to the public.

If an offender has been sentenced to 18 months or more in prison, the victim can choose to register with the Victim Notification Scheme and opt in to receive some information about the offender’s release arrangements. 

There is support and information for victims from Victim Support Scotland.

No.  However, the sharing of information relating the victim plays a central role in minimising the likelihood of the offender causing further harm to the victim. Victim issues are regularly discussed during the MAPPA meetings and if further action is required then the appropriate Responsible Authority will be tasked to do so.  It is the job of the MAPPA agencies to manage the risk posed by the offender and as such specific victims and the public will be considered when the MAPPA Risk Management Plan is discussed.

A person who becomes subject to the notification requirements must, within three days of conviction, notify the Police, in person and at a specific Police station, of their name, address, date of birth, passport, credit card, and bank details and national insurance number.  If the person is in prison they will do this when released. 

They must also notify Police if they change their name or address and if they are staying somewhere else for more than seven days in a 12-month period, or if they are travelling abroad for three days or more. 

They need to confirm their personal details at least every 12 months. 

Individuals who have served their sentence are allowed to reintegrate into their communities as part of rehabilitation and re-integration. Some of these individuals will be managed as part of MAPPA and where they live will be subject to risk assessment and relevant processes will be followed.

Extensive research and reviews by experts have shown that the provision of stable housing, access to support networks and effective monitoring are keyways to minimise the risks posed by sex offenders. If we move sex offenders from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, we may push them away from the very support that is promoting a positive change in their life, to be replaced by a vacuum that may lead to re-offending. We recognise and understand that members of the public may have strong feelings about the housing of sex offenders in their communities and our aim is to work with the community and to reassure people that public safety remains our highest priority.

Re-offending by registered sex offenders is less than 2%. We know that a crime of serious harm will greatly affect the lives of victims, their friends and families and causes fear in our communities. Our staff work hard to ensure this does not happen and we take a robust approach in response to any increased risks people may present, while working hard to rehabilitate them, which will reduce longer term risk.