Contents Page

Foreword 3

The National Picture 5-6

Key Achievements 7-8

How the MAPPP operates locally 9 - 10

Case Examples 11-13

Statistical Information 14

Contacts 15
Foreword
The improvement of MAPPP procedures and processes has been the key theme in the
work of partners during this year. As Chief Officers of the responsible authority we have
been grateful for the active support of our partner agencies within the Strategic
Management Board of the MAPPP in Hertfordshire. Probation and police colleagues are
ably assisted by senior representatives of statutory and voluntary agencies, who have
played an invaluable role in the strategic development of the MAPPP in the county.
The introduction of legislation identifying partners with a duty to co-operate confirmed the
importance of the strong partnerships which were already in place, both at an operational
and strategic level. Colleagues from varied professional backgrounds, such as Children
Schools and Families, youth offending, health and the voluntary sector each bring the
expertise of their own agency to our joint planning processes.

Legislative change bringing the involvement of the Prison Service within the responsible
authority heralds an exciting time of further change and development for MAPPP and local
links with the Mount prison. They have already brought active participation from the
prison service at a strategic level. Partnership in achieving quality of risk management
work will be the keynote of further development in the coming year. The Strategic
Management Board is committed to a rigorous process of examination and improvement.
This will commence with an audit of quality and consistency of risk assessment and risk
management planning which will report to the Strategic Board in the Autumn.

The recruitment of two lay advisors to join the Strategic Management Board also
represents an exciting opportunity to develop the quality of our work by drawing on the
skill and knowledge of members of the community. The Strategic Board is proactively
pursuing this opportunity and plans are in place to begin a process of information sharing
with interested parties throughout the summer of 2004 followed by recruitment of lay
advisors by the Autumn.

We are committed to protecting potential and active victims of crime and the presence of
the Chief Executive of Victim Support Hertfordshire on the Strategic Board is a valued
contribution.

This is an exciting year in which we will work together to build on what we have already
achieved to improve quality and consistency of practice across the county in order to
better protect the people of Hertfordshire.

Richard Baldwin Chief Officer Paul Acres Chief Constable

Hertfordshire Probation Area Hertfordshire Constabulary
The National Picture
Sexual and violent offences are dreadful
crimes that deeply affect the lives of
victims and their families and inspire fear
in local communities. The Government
regards tackling sexual and violent
crimes as one of its highest priorities. In
the last year a great deal has been done
to strengthen the MAPPP and the wider
public protection framework. April 2004
saw the introduction of provisions of the
Criminal Justice Act 2003 which help
strengthen the MAPPP by:
‰ Bringing the Prison Service on
board with police and probation
In Hertfordshire prison, police
and probation are already
working together to develop the
MAPPP co-ordinator role
‰ Formalising the involvement of
other agencies to contribute to
helping offenders not to
reoffend. In Hertfordshire these
agencies were already
proactive contributors to the
process
‰ The appointment of two Lay
Advisers to each Area to assist
in monitoring the effectiveness
of the MAPPP. Hertfordshire is
proactively pursuing the
recruitment of lay advisors and
will have them in place in
advance of Home Office
requirements. The expertise of
the Chief Executive of Victim
Support, Hertfordshire, recently
awarded Investors in People
status, is proving invaluable in
developing a high quality
advertisement and recruitment
process to encourage
contributions from volunteers
and community members
throughout Hertfordshire
Sexual Offences
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 is another
example of how the Government has
introduced measures to help protect the
public. For example, ‘dangerous’
offenders will now be kept in custody until
they no longer pose a serious risk to the
community. The new Act plugs loopholes
in the law and:-
‰ Strengthens the law on rape
and on sex offences against
children
‰ Introduces new offences of
‘sexual grooming’
‰ Extends the protection from
exploitation in prostitution or
pornography to children up the
age of 18 (For the first time, it
will be an offence to buy sexual
services from a child below this
age, targeting those who abuse
children in this way)
‰ Strengthens the sex offenders
register
‰ Introduces new civil orders to
help prevent further offences
from being committed. New
local MAPPP guidelines in
Hertfordshire support this
increased focus on managing
sex offenders by identifying the
key behaviour patterns
denoting risk which panels
must manage
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Victims
The National Victims and Witnesses
Strategy aims to improve support and
protection for victims and witnesses by:-
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims
Bill
This Bill currently going through
Parliament will create:-

‰ Reducing the adverse effects ‰ An independent post of

of crime on victims and Commissioner for Victims and
witnesses, and preventing Witnesses (a voice for all
secondary victimisation victims of crime)

‰ Encouraging more victims and ‰ A Victims’ Code of Practice

witnesses to come forward
‰ Offering more options to
victims and witnesses,
including alternatives to
attendance at court
(specific responsibilities that
each criminal justice service
agency and Victim Support
must provide to victims)

A strong commitment to protecting victims and an increased focus on domestic violence

offending are features of MAPPP work in Hertfordshire.

4
Key Achievements
There have been some significant achievements this year in developing the MAPPP
in Hertfordshire Probation Area and below is an indication of our progress.
‰ The Hertfordshire Probation
Area MAPPP arrangements
were initially developed on a
three tier system and thereby
pre-empting national guidelines
‰ An extensive review of local
guidelines was commenced in
summer 2003 and has involved
consultation meetings with a
range of partners. This has
resulted in significant
improvements to the
guidelines, which now
incorporate advice to panels on
risk management practice, risk
indicators and assessment
process as well as procedural
guidance. The revised
guidelines were agreed in
principle by the MAPPP
Strategic Management Board
in June 2004 and later issued
to staff and partners
‰ The MAPPP has increased
focus on the issue of domestic
violence. Consequently, the
Chair of the County Domestic
Violence Forum has been
invited to join the Strategic
Management Board and
guidelines have been amended
to ensure that all domestic
violence cases, which meet the
criteria, have a high profile at
Local Risk Management
Panels or a higher tier panel,
dependent on risk
‰ The Strategic Board have
agreed to commission an audit
of MAPPP practice across the
county in order to provide
information to the Strategic
Management Board regarding
quality and consistency of
practice. Before undertaking
this step, the Board considered
the research in the MAPPP in
four areas of the country
conducted by Kempshall and
Maguire, in order to incorporate
learning from this research
‰ Victim Liaison Officers who
attend MAPPPs have been
trained in restorative justice
methods and joint planning
work is current under way with
Bedfordshire Probation Area in
order to look at ways of
integrating victim practice with
offender management work,
including MAPPP practice
‰ Proactive policing and the local
Criminal Justice Board’s
commitment to ensuring that
those who commit crime are
detected, face justice and are
registered has to increase the
number of sex offenders
registered. MAPPPs have
responded and worked actively
to monitor and intervene to
reduce the risk posed by these
individuals
‰ The Board has made
budgetary provision for a
promotional event for MAPPP
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Engagement of partners with a duty to
co-operate within the operational
MAPPP
‰ Partner engagement with the
MAPPP in Hertfordshire is
good. All partners with a duty
to co-operate attend all levels
of the process in all districts of
Hertfordshire. There have
been rare absences due to
severe operational pressures.
However, a formal letter from
the Chair of the MAPPP has, in
all cases, resulted in a positive
response
Issues for the Hertfordshire MAPPP
‰ Lack of consistency in MAPPP
probation practice across
Hertfordshire has caused
problems for partners who
have been asked to respond
differently to local area panels.
This is to be standardised
through the revised guidance
to MAPPP and by using
information provided by an
audit to ensure that
standardisation occurs
‰ Engagement with MAPPP
poses particular challenges for
housing providers in
Hertfordshire, given that there
is a diverse range of providers,
many whose input is specific to
a localised area. Specific and
responsible arrangements will
need to be made to support
representatives of housing
providers
‰ Some partners have been
concerned that information
could be shared at MAPPP
meetings with partners when it
is not appropriate and not
relevant to risk management.
Partner work on information-
sharing which has been agreed
at the Strategic Management
Board, has been incorporated
into revised guidelines
Strategic Management Panel
Each MAPPP has a strategic
Management Board, who meet every
three months. Membership includes
senior managers from the following
agencies:
‰ Hertfordshire Constabulary
‰ National Probation Service –
Hertfordshire
‰ Adult Care Services (Herts
County Council)
‰ Children, School & Families
(Herts County Council)
‰ Community Mental Health
Team
‰ Local Authority Housing
‰ Youth Offending Team
‰ Prison Service
‰ Victim Support
‰ Police/Probation Information
Liaison Development Officer
‰ County Domestic Violence
Forum
‰ Any other agency that has an
interest in a specific case
Their remit is principally to gather and
monitor information to evaluate the
effectiveness of the MAPPP
arrangements and to ensure that each
agency has internal procedures for the
effective operation of this inter-agency
work
6
How the MAPPP operates locally
In April 2001 The Criminal Justice and
Courts Service’s Act 2000 (sections 67
and 68) sought to increase public
protection by building upon the existing
inter-agency arrangements. It introduced
a statutory duty on police and probation
to make joint arrangements for the
assessment and management of the
risks posed by relevant sexual and
violent offenders, and other offenders,
who may cause serious harm to the
public.
From April 2004, the Prison Service will
be a member of the responsible authority
for the MAPPP (along with Police and
Probation) and will bring considerable
expertise on the management of
dangerous offenders.
Purpose and Principles
Hertfordshire operates a three tier system
comprising of a Local Risk Management
Panel, a higher tier referred to as MAPPP
(Multi-Agency Public Protection Panel)
for the most dangerous offenders, and
the Strategic Management Panel. It aims
to ensure that each section of the
community benefits from best practice
that will better protect them. All offenders
who present a risk of serious harm are
referred into the process. Local
arrangements are based on information
sharing between agencies and use of the
local management panel as a forum, in
which a risk management plan is
developed.
Risk assessments and risk management
plans identified by Local Risk
Management Panels and MAPPP’s must
address the following:
‰ The imminence of the event
causing serious harm
‰ The degree of harm which the
incident is likely to cause
‰ Whether individuals or specific
groups of people or
communities are likely to be
the victims of such an event
No risk assessment or risk management
plan which fails to address these issues
will be acceptable.
The Hertfordshire public protection
arrangements divide the county into three
areas that correspond to police local
areas: Eastern, Western and Central
Hertfordshire. In each of these areas, a
MAPPPs are chaired by a Probation
Director of Operations.
Membership of the Local Risk
Management Panel represents
operational management of partner
agencies with knowledge of cases and
procedures and the ability to commit
resources.
Risk Assessment Processes
The MAPPP structure in Hertfordshire
involves screening arrangements to
ensure all offenders are assessed to
gauge the risk they pose, and to enable
the panels to focus on those critical few
offenders who present a high risk.
Screening is based on an assessment
using the probation and prison service
Offender Assessment System (OASys).
Sex offenders are assessed under the
police Risk Matrix 2000 system. Other
agencies have different methods of risk
assessment that are used to categorise
risk of harm, and may alert the panel to a
person posing a high risk.
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Local Risk Management Panel
Cases that may potentially be high risk
are considered initially by a Local Risk
Management Panel, with a membership
drawn from the same organisations as
above.
There are three possible outcomes at the
Local Risk Management Panel stage:
‰ Cases confirmed as posing a
high risk to the public are
immediately referred to the
MAPPP
‰ Cases designated as not
posing a high risk will be
managed by the Local Risk
Management Panel, which will
develop an individual Action
Plan for each case. Each case
will be monitored and kept
under review
‰ The Local Risk Management
Panel may decide that a multi-
agency approach is not
required in current
circumstances, and the case
referred back to the probation
service or other agency for
further action
In a few cases, the decision may be
taken that there is very little risk posed by
an individual unless circumstances
change significantly, e.g. a trigger factor
develops – such as homelessness,
unemployment or a relationship
breakdown that could prompt an increase
in risk levels. These cases are brought
before the Local Risk Management Panel
in order to share information and alert
relevant staff to the possible need for the
Local Risk Management Panel to revisit
the case if changes occur.
The Multi Agency Public Protection Panel
meets bi-monthly in each area, while the
Local Risk Management Panels meet
each month. Multi-agency working is a
crucial component of these meetings. It
is essential, that all agencies contribute
relevant information, so that a
comprehensive risk management plan is
formulated. The plan produced for the
individual will take account of the risks
posed to:
‰ The public
‰ Specific people/groups
of people
‰ Staff supervising
the offender
‰ The individual involved – in
terms of self-harm
Action plans are reviewed regularly to
ensure that any new information is
included in the decision making process.
All agencies are aware that levels of risk
may change over time. Staff from other
agencies involved in the management of
a specific case will keep in close contact
between meetings.
Victim Work
There is a strong link between the
statutory victim contact service provided
by probation, and victim support schemes
locally. The Victim Unit keeps victims of
serious sexual and violent offences
informed of the management of the case,
and provides a point of contact to enable
victims to access other services that offer
help and support. Unit representatives
attend each Local Risk Management
Panel, providing information from victims
and raising victim concerns. Many
victims have said that they have
benefited from the information given to
them.
8
Case Example One - The critical few
The importance of prison and health authorities involvement
in the MAPPP

Background

John (not his real name) has many previous convictions including arson and sexual
offences against children. John is one of the 280 offenders on the sex offenders register in
Hertfordshire. Before he was released from prison and reached the maximum point at
which the prison authorities could detain him, prison staff referred John to the MAPPP.
They considered him to be of very high risk of causing serious harm or death to members
of the public, not least because of his mental health problems, unless a very strict plan of
action was arranged for him on his release.

Risk Management Plan

A MAPPP was set-up, whilst John was serving his sentence, with relevant partner agency
staff attending the meeting, including probation and prison staff and community mental
health specialists. A risk management plan was put into action. Health staff were able to
provide invaluable insights into the causes of his offending and trigger factors which might
indicate increased risk to the public and prison staff provided a detailed picture of his
mental health state whilst John was in prison. This invaluable information helped build a
picture for the best risk plan for John and members of the public.

Outcome

After a series of MAPPP meetings and insight into John’s mental health problems a Local
Authority mental health specialist arranged for John to be transferred straight from prison
to a psychiatric care unit under the Mental Health Act. Practitioners from the hospital he
attended came to all subsequent meetings which enabled a close review of risks posed by
him to be maintained. Police and Probation staff regularly visited John in hospital to
monitor the risk.

Further MAPPP meetings, with all professional staff involved in John’s welfare, met to
decide where he should live on discharge from the psychiatric unit. When John was
considered well enough to leave the psychiatric unit the National Probation Service and
the Public Protection Unit had already secured a place for him which provides closely
supervised residential treatment. This seamless move from the psychiatric unit prevented
any lapse in his treatment and lessoned any risk posed to the public. John remains a
resident and his treatment progresses and there has been no further offending.

Significantly in Hertfordshire, between 1st April 2003 and the 31st March 2004, none of the
offenders who have been managed by the MAPPP have been returned to custody for
breach of their licence conditions. However, the number of registered sex offenders in
Hertfordshire has increased in the last year. This is of some concern, however it should
be seen in the context that police colleagues have been rigorous in ensuring that
instances of abuse result in prosecutions, resulting in a larger number of offenders being
registered. This is a positive step for Hertfordshire as abusers can be more closely and
effectively monitored if they are prosecuted and registered as sex offenders.

9
Case Example Two
The importance of domestic violence advocacy support and drug and alcohol
counselling in the MAPPP

Background

Roger (not his real name) has previous convictions for violence including domestic
violence against his partner. He has a history of physically and psychologically abusing
women and also of drug and alcohol abuse. Roger has a two year old daughter, who has
now been adopted, but he was able to receive supervised contact with his child at the time
he was referred to the MAPPP.

Roger was of high risk of causing harm to other’s, including professional staff, who had
dealings with him. His heavy drinking and drug abuse affected his moods and could cause
him to be violent. His partner had links to the travelling community and a French passport
and there were concerns that together they might try to snatch the child and take her
abroad.

Risk Management Plan

Regular MAPPP meetings were held to manage the risk to the public whilst Roger was on
licence. They identified that the risk of serious harm was escalating and that there were
specific dangers to particular members of staff who had dealings with him. Therefore
urgent action was taken to re-allocate tasks in order to protect those staff most at risk.
Colleagues on the MAPPP also tightened security at the contact centre where the
offender was seeing his daughter prior to her adoption.

In spite of all the activity taken by the MAPPP a further offence of Grievous Bodily Harm
(GBH) to a stranger, was committed whilst Roger was on licence. The MAPPP responded
by calling an emergency meeting to ensure that all possible action was taken to protect
any other possible victims in the period leading up to his court appearance.

Outcome

Roger received a custodial sentence for the serious offence of GBH. However, whilst he
was serving his sentence the MAPPP continued to meet to help prevent further offending
on his release. Part of the risk management plan was to ensure that Roger received drug
and alcohol counselling whilst he was in prison and that his partner received domestic
violence advocacy support in order to reduce the risk that he will re-offend when ultimately
released.

Fortunately it is only a very small number of offenders in Hertfordshire, 3 in total,

(1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004) in which offenders managed by the MAPPP have
been charged with further serious violent or sexual offences. When this does happen each
offender’s case is subjected to rigorous, serious incident reviews, in order to ensure that
all appropriate steps have been and will be taken to prevent it happening again.

10
Case Example Three
The importance of housing and health agencies in the MAPPP

Background

Kerry (not her real name) has numerous previous convictions and was sentenced to a
Community Punishment Order for shoplifting. She was required to report to work to
undertake demanding unpaid labour for the benefit of the local community. However, she
committed a further offence of shoplifting whilst on her order and was sentenced to
imprisonment.

Kerry was of no fixed abode at the time of this offence. She also had psychiatric problems
but regularly failed to keep her appointments with her health worker.

Risk Management Plan

Kerry was referred to the MAPPP as it was clear that due to her change in circumstances
- losing her home and not taking her medication - that she would be of high risk of re-
offending again on her release from prison.

Members of the MAPPP arranged for a psychiatric assessment to be completed whilst

Kerry was serving her prison sentence and also liaised with Housing agencies to secure
accommodation for her on her release.

Outcome
On Kerry’s release from prison a colleague from the National Association for the Care and
Resettlement of Offenders, who was a member of the MAPPP, secured suitable
accommodation for her which considerably reduced the likelihood of further offending.
She is now settled in her new home and is more stable not least because she is attending
her appointments with mental health colleagues and taking her medication.

Kerry is one of the 43 Hertfordshire ‘other’ offenders that were managed through the
MAPPP (1st April 2003 to 31st March 2004). ‘Other’ meaning not those offenders managed
by the MAPPP for violent or sexual offences.

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Statistical Information
No. of Offenders
1. Category 1 MAPPP offenders: Registered Sex Offenders

i) The number of registered sex offenders living in Hertfordshire on 280

31 March 2004
ia) The number of RSOs per 100,000 head of population 27
ii) The number of sex offenders having a registration requirement 7
who were either cautioned or convicted for breaches of the
requirement, between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004

iii) The number of full Sex Offenders Orders applied for and imposed
by the courts between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2004:-

a) The total number of full Sex Offenders Orders applied for 0

b) The total number imposed by the courts 0
iv) The number of interim Sex Offender Orders applied for and
imposed by the courts between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004

a) The total number of interim Sex Offenders Orders applied for 1

b) The total number of interim Sex Offender Orders imposed by the 0

courts

2. Category 2: violent offenders and other sexual offenders

v) The number of violent and other sexual offenders (as defined by

Section 68 (3) (4) and (5) of the Criminal Justice and Court Services 306
Act (2000) living in Herts between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004

3. Category 3: Other offenders

vi) The number of ‘other offenders’ (as defined by Section 67 (2)(b)

of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act (2000) between 1st 281
April 2003 and 31st March 2004
vii) The number of Restraining Orders imposed on any MAPPP
offenders by the courts in Herts between 1st April 2003 and 0
31st March 2004

4. MAPPP cases

viii) (i) The number of MAPPP registered sex offenders managed

through the MAPPP (level 3) between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 23
2004
(v) The number of MAPPP violent and other sexual offenders
managed through the MAPPP (level 3) between 1st April 2003 and 47
31st March 2004
(vi) The number of MAPPP other offenders managed through the
MAPPP (level 3) between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004 43
ix) a) How many cases managed by the MAPPP between 1st April
2003 and 31st March 2004 (whilst still in the MAPPP) were returned to 0
custody for a breach of licence?
b) How many cases managed by the MAPPP between 1st April 2003
and 31st March 2004 (whilst still in the MAPPP) were returned to 0
custody for a breach of a restraining order or sex offender order?
c) How many cases managed by the MAPPP between 1st April 2003
and 31st March 2004 (whilst still in the MAPPP) were charged with a 3
serious sexual or violent offence?

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 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT BOARD MEMBERS
(SMB – MAPPP)

ORGANISATION NAME ADDRESS PHONE/EMAIL

Probation Director of Hertfordshire Probation Area  01992 504444

Operations Graham House, Yeoman’s Court lisa.mathews@hertford
Ware Road shire.probation.gsx.
Hertford gov.uk
SG13 7HJ
Detective Chief Hertfordshire Constabulary  01707 354601
Police Superintendent Crime Management Department jeremy.alford@herts.
Jeremy Alford Police HQ pnn.police.uk
Stanborough Road
Welwyn Garden City
AL8 6XF
Adult Care Services Cathy Kerr Adult Care Services  01992 588820
Hertfordshire County Council cathy.kerr@hertscc.
County Hall, Pegs Lane, gov.uk
Hertford SG13 8DP
Adult Care Services John Bishop Adult Care Services  01707 280653
Hertfordshire County Council john.bishop@hertscc.
Mount Pleasant gov.uk
Mount Pleasant Lane
Hatfield Herts
Hertfordshire Andrew Adult Mental Health Services  01462 438186
Partnership NHS Thiedeman Centenary House andrew
Trust, Mental Health Grammar School Walk thiedeman@herts
Hitchin, Herts SG5 1JN scc.gov.uk
Children Schools and Carol Taylor, Child Protection Unit, Children,  01992 556935
Families and Area Head of Child Schools and Families, carol-
Child Protection Protection Hertfordshire County Council, taylor@hertscc.gov.uk
Room 17a, County Hall, Pegs
Lane, HERTFORD SG13 8DF
Local Authority John Giesen Broxbourne Borough Council  01992 785555
Housing (|Broxbourne Borough offices, Bishops College housing@broxbourne.
Area only) Churchgate, Cheshunt gov.uk
Herts EN8 PPX
Prison Service Paul Wailen, HMP The Mount, Molyneaux  01442 836359
Governor Avenue, Bovingdon, Hemel christine.mcginty@
Hempstead, Herts HP3 ONZ hmps.gsi.gov.uk
Youth Offending Team Tom Rees, Youth Justice, Hertfordshire  01992 556324
Assistant County Council, County Hall, tom.rees@hertscc.
Director, YOT Pegs Lane, Hertford SG13 8DF gov.uk
Victim Support David Padgett, Victim Support, C/O Hertfordshire  01707 354626/7
Chief Constabulary HQ, Stanborough david.padgett@uk.uu
Executive Road, Welwyn Garden City, Herts mail.com
AL8 6XF
Crime Reduction Unit Jim Nicholson Herts County Council  01992 588737
(Domestic Violence) County Hall jim.nicholson@hertscc
Hertford .gov.uk
Police/Probation Police/ Hertfordshire Probation Area  01992 504444
Probation Graham House, Yeoman’s Court
Liaison Officer Ware Road
Hertford SG13 7HJ

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