Scottish review of sex offenders set to begin fieldwork

A Scotland-wide review into how well the public is protected by arrangements for assessing and managing sex offenders is set to begin fieldwork.

The review, carried out by the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, will be looking at the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements, or MAPPA, which allow police, local authorities, the prison service and health boards to jointly assess and manage the way risks posed by registered sex offenders are managed whilst in custody, after release from a custodial sentence or on a community-based court disposal.

This is the first national review of MAPPA, and was announced in October last year.

Now inspectors from both bodies are set to begin the fieldwork stage of the work which will see them visit all nine Strategic Oversight Group areas across Scotland.

The fieldwork stage, which is due to start in April and run until the end of June, follows several months of foundation and preparatory work. This included collating information from published Significant Case Reviews, an audit of ViSOR and the submission of position statements from each Strategic Oversight Group area.

Annette Bruton, Chief Executive of the Care Inspectorate said: “We are chairing this review with HMICS to look at how well the public is protected by arrangements for assessing and managing sex offenders; that MAPPA procedures are fully operational and that lessons are being learned.

“The fieldwork stage, which will take about 10 weeks to complete, will be proportionate, risk-based and intelligence led.”

Andy Cowie, Assistant Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, added: “Fieldwork will include observations at a number of MAPPA meetings across Scotland, interviews with key staff including focus groups and a qualitative examination of a number of selected case records.”

It is anticipated that a joint report of the review findings, along with any recommendations, will be published in the Autumn.