Humberside Police & National Probation Service - Humberside

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements

Annual Report 2003–4
Contents

Foreword

What are the MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements)?

Are all dangerous people covered by the MAPPA?

Are all offenders covered by the MAPPA?
How are those offenders who come under the MAPPA dealt with?
Why aren’t all these offenders very high risk?
How are offenders managed under the MAPPA?
What are Risk Management Plans?
Restraining Orders
Sex Offender Orders
Disclosure
Recall to prison

What about the victims of serious crime?

Oversight of the MAPPA - The Strategic Management Board

Key Progress and Achievements over the last year.

Serious Further Offences procedures
Appointment of MAPPA Co-ordinator

The coming year - Strengthening the MAPPA

The Prison Service becoming part of the Responsible Authority

The Duty to Co-operate
Appointment of Lay Advisers to the Strategic Management Board
Other legislative measures
The focus on victims
ViSOR
Statistics
Agency Contact Points

1
Foreword

The protection of the public from dangerous offenders in the community is a priority for us all.
A key element in providing such protection is joint agency work undertaken by Police, Probation
and other key agencies such as Social Services, Health, Education, Housing and the Prison Service.
This work is co-ordinated and developed under the auspices of ‘Multi Agency Public Protection
Arrangements’ (MAPPA).

MAPPA is a systematic approach intended to ensure that dangerous offenders are managed, on a
multi agency basis, in order to reduce the risk of such individuals re offending and thereby
causing harm. These arrangements are enshrined in law with the Police, the Probation Service
and, since 1st April 2004, the Prison Service having the statutory responsibility.

As part of the framework of these arrangements we have a responsibility to produce an Annual

Report outlining our activity during the year.

This report is the third such report and we are pleased to say that our work in this area has
developed in line with Home Office guidelines and general good practice from around the
country. This year has, in particular, seen the further development of co-operative links between
agencies and practitioners. This has been supplemented by the establishment of a Strategic
Management Board whose role it is to oversee, review and develop our existing arrangements.
We are also pleased to say that Humberside Police and National Probation Service – Humberside
have now appointed a full time MAPPA Co-ordinator who has responsibility for day to day
monitoring of this work and for providing a source of advice and consistency across the
Humberside area.

In respect of the cases dealt with under Humberside’s MAPPA, this has been a demanding year
with Humberside managing a number of cases which have had a national profile.

In terms of the future we are looking towards a greater involvement by the Prison Service and
the introduction of Lay Members to the Strategic Management Board. We will also begin to
make use of the new Sex Offences Act 2003 which introduces fresh provisions for the
registration of sex offenders and the ability to obtain a greater range of preventative orders.

Overall this has been a demanding year for all those involved in this area of work and we look
forward to continuing our progress and good work over the next year.

David Westwood, Jane Geraghty

Chief Constable Chief Officer
Humberside Police National Probation Service -
Humberside

2
What are the MAPPA?
Sexual and violent offences are dreadful
crimes that deeply affect the lives of victims
and their families and inspire fear in local
communities. Their impact can be profound
and long-lasting, leaving victims feeling
unsafe even in their own homes. The
Government regards protecting the public
from such sexual and violent crimes as one
of its highest priorities.
The Multi Agency Public Protection
Arrangements (MAPPA) form the basis of
that public protection through a genuinely
multi-agency partnership throughout the 42
Police and Probation Areas of England and
Wales. They developed as formal
arrangements out of local initiatives
following legislation in 20001 and are now
defined by the Criminal Justice Act (2003)
which came into effect on 5th April 2004.
New national guidelines on implementing
MAPPA were introduced at the beginning of
this review year2 .
The MAPPA contribute significantly towards
the integration of the work of a number of
criminal justice agencies together with social
care agencies such as health, social services
and housing, in order to reduce serious
offending, minimise serious harm to the
public and assist in the early detection of
repeat offenders.
Over the period of this review, police and
probation have had a statutory responsibility
to oversee these arrangements as the
“responsible authority” under the relevant
legislation. From April 2004 the prison
service joined us as part of the responsible
authority.
In Humberside we undertake this joint work
at two levels, through Local Risk
Management Meetings (LRMMs, see later)
and through Multi Agency Public Protection
Panels (MAPPP, see later).
The bulk of the work in regard to
1 Assault: What criminal histories can reveal about
Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
2
The MAPPA Guidance (2003) Home Office
3
administering the MAPPA is undertaken by
the four Police Risk Management Units
based in Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby and
Market Weighton and the Probation
Intensive Supervision Teams dealing with the
high and very high risk offenders based in
Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Beverley, Goole
and Bridlington. Of course they could not
carry out their work effectively without co-
operation and input from other departments
in their services or from other agencies.
The MAPPA are there to ensure the quality,
timeliness and consistency of that co-
operation and input.
Are all dangerous people
covered by the MAPPA?
Currently the MAPPA only applies to certain
categories of individuals who have already
been convicted of an offence.
Some potentially dangerous people are not
known to any local agencies, including
police or probation. Therefore, although the
MAPPA represents a significant
strengthening of public protection, they
cannot provide an absolute protection.
Research in 2002 has shown that 32% of
the first time murderers and 36 % of serious
sexual offenders had no previous
convictions.3
Operation Ore, the investigation into child
pornography on the internet, which you
may have heard of, revealed that nationally
a “significant proportion” of the 7,000 UK
subscribers to a particular group of internet
sites offering access to images of child
abuse were previously unknown to police, in
Humberside this figure was 80%.
3
Soothill, K. Francis, B. Ackerley E. and
Figelstone, R (2002) Murder and Serious Sexual
future serious offending. Police Research Series.
Paper 144.
Are all offenders covered
by the MAPPA?
Not all offenders are covered by the Multi
Agency Public Protection Arrangements so
effective multi-agency public protection
needs to start with the efficient
identification of those relevant offenders.
Prompt and accurate identification then
allows all agencies to gather and share
relevant information and choose the
appropriate risk management strategies.
Three categories of offenders are defined as
falling within the remit of the MAPPA;
Category 1: Registered sex offenders, i.e.
those convicted or cautioned
for certain sexual offences
who are required to register
with the police.
Category 2: Violent and other offenders
who generally have received a
sentence of imprisonment of
12 months or more.
Category 3: Other offenders not in either
of the above categories but
who are considered to pose a
risk of serious harm to the
public. The inclusion of these
offenders under the MAPPA is
based on two considerations.
First it must be established
that the individual has a
conviction for an offence
which indicates they are
capable of causing serious
harm to the public. Secondly
it must be reasonably
considered that they may
cause serious harm to the
public.
The statistics at the end of this report show
the number of offenders in the three
categories we have in Humberside.
4
How are those offenders
who come under the
MAPPA dealt with?
When offenders have been dealt with by the
courts their assimilation back into the
community is usually, but not always,
overseen by the National Probation Service.
This may start as soon as the offender leaves
court if they have been made subject to a
community penalty such as a Community
Rehabilitation Order or it may be delayed
until the offender is released from prison if a
custodial sentence is given.
At the time an offender passes through the
court process an assessment of the risk they
present to the public in general or any
individual in particular will usually have been
undertaken by the probation service. If they
are given a custodial sentence then that
assessment will be reviewed during the time
they are in prison. The review will take into
consideration information from prison and
probation staff involved in any work they
have undertaken on their offending
behaviour whilst in prison, information from
the police, the probation Victim Liaison
Officers and the home probation officer so
that when the offender is released to the
community, agencies working with them will
have an up to date indication of the risk they
pose.
Some offenders who do not come to the
initial notice of the probation service are
assessed by the police, e.g. Registered Sex
Offenders moving into the area.
Risk assessment in our area of work can be
considered as calculating how likely an event
is to occur and, if it does, the likely impact of
that event, upon whom or what and with
what consequences.
The impact we are considering is serious
harm to members of the public in general or
to individuals in particular, that is harm
which will be life threatening or traumatic
and from which recovery, whether physical
or psychological, can be expected to be
difficult or impossible.
Using the recognised risk assessment tools of
the particular agency, offenders are assessed
as presenting low, medium, high or very high
risk of causing harm. In essence these levels
of risk are defined as;
Low: there are no significant current
indicators of risk of harm
Medium: there are identifiable indicators
of harm. The offender has the
potential to cause harm but is
unlikely to do so unless there is
a change of circumstances.
High: there are identifiable indicators
of risk of serious harm. The
potential event could happen
at any time and the impact
would be serious.
Very High: there is an imminent risk of
serious harm. The potential
event is more likely than not to
happen and the impact would
be serious.
A young offender was due for release
following a sentence for a serious
assault of a stranger. During his time in
custody he had taken a prison officer
hostage.
Intelligence from prison indicated that
he had made threats against police
officers on release.
The young man's background was one
of little adult guidance and support
and constant conflict with the Criminal
Justice System. Previous attempts at
input by the caring services had had
little impact on his behaviour.
Prior to release a Level 3 MAPPP was
held. All police officers in the area of
resettlement were informed. Firm
boundaries were laid down by the
probation service for the offender in
regard to his supervision on release but
a package of support for him was also
established.

The purpose of the MAPPA is to establish He was instructed to reside in a

arrangements for the effective management Probation Hostel, with stringent curfew
of that risk. conditions and rules regarding his
behaviour, until the local housing
authority could find suitable
Why aren’t all these accommodation in the community.
offenders very high risk? Additional steps in regard to the safety
of the hostel staff were taken.
Remember, risk is about the likelihood of
The young man has been out of
something happening and the consequences
custody for some time, and although
or impact if it does happen.
he did initially find it difficult to comply
with the rules of the hostel, he did
As past behaviour is a predictor to future respond positively to warnings about
behaviour, all offenders must be considered his behaviour, and to date has not
as presenting some risk of re-offending and reverted to re-offending.
causing harm. However the degree to which
they pose a risk and the seriousness of any
consequences of any further offending is
The majority of individuals who are assessed
something which is considered in the risk
as possibly being a risk to others, willingly
assessment process. Some may be
comply with any arrangements made to help
considered as presenting a high risk of re-
them overcome problems and issues which
offending but the consequences of that
led to offending.
behaviour, although perhaps causing
nuisance, cost or indeed minor harm to the
Perhaps their risk is to a specific individual
victim is not serious harm as we have defined
and there can now be no contact with that
it.

5
individual. Or it relates to particular
circumstances, which no longer exist. The
offender may genuinely want to change the
behaviour which led to their offending and
willingly undertakes programmes provided
by the probation service. These programmes
are in the main “cognitive-behavioural
programmes” which have been identified
and evaluated as the most effective
treatment of both sexual and violent
offenders, looking at the way a person’s
thinking and behaviour are connected, and
how changing one can affect the other.
How are offenders
managed under the MAPPA?
The structure of risk management is
intended to enable resources to be deployed
to manage the risks the above assessments
have identified in the most efficient and
effective manner.
Risk management is defined as harm
reduction either through the reduction of
the likelihood of a risk occurring or the
reduction of its impact should it occur.
There are three levels of risk management
used under the MAPPA. Although generally
the higher the assessed level of risk the
higher the level of management required,
this need not always be the case. The risk
management structure is based on the
principle that cases should be managed at
the lowest level consistent with providing a
defensible risk management plan.
The three levels are;
Level 1: Ordinary risk management.
This is the level used in cases
in which the risks posed by
the offender can be managed
by one agency without
significantly involving other
agencies.
The majority of cases supervised by the
police or the probation service come into
this level.
6
Level 2: Local inter-agency risk
management.
This level of management is
be used where the active
involvement of more than one
agency is required. In
Humberside we use the
acronym LRMM, for Local Risk
Management Meetings for
this level.
These meetings are held monthly in the local
Division dealing with the offender – i.e.
Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Beverley.
Level 3: Multi Agency Public Protection
Panels (MAPPPs)
This level deals with those
“critical few” cases which are
assessed as being a high or
very high risk of causing
serious harm; AND
they present risks that can
only be managed by a plan
which requires co-operation at
a senior level due to the
complexities of the case
and/or because of the unusual
resource commitments
required.
Additionally cases which are
exceptional because of the
high media scrutiny or public
interest and there is a need to
ensure public confidence in
the criminal justice system is
sustained are dealt with at
this level.
You can see from the statistics that of all the
cases considered under the MAPPA only 8
have needed to be managed by a full Level 3
MAPPP.
To date these MAPPPs have been held locally
to the Division dealing with the offender –
i.e. Hull, Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Beverley -
and chaired by a local senior police or
probation officer. However, in order to bring
a more consistent approach to this work
and to help maintain a central overview of
all high and very high risk offenders in our
area, future MAPPPs will be held centrally
and be chaired by the police or probation
Senior Management Team member having
responsibility for the MAPPA.
What are Risk
Management Plans?
Risk management plans lay down specific
objectives for the management of the risk
the offender presents. Responsibilities and
tasks are clearly defined and firm timetables
established. The plan needs to be able to
deal with changing circumstances of the
case and should also integrate what are
described as internal and external restraints
on the offender.
A predatory sex offender against young
boys was recalled to prison from this
area when his behaviour became such
that the risk he presented was no longer
manageable in the community.
He was subsequently released from
prison without any form of statutory
supervision and decided to live in a
coastal town of another area.
Prior to his release police and probation
officers from Humberside attended a
MAPPP held in the new area to appraise
that area of the risk he presented.
The offender was monitored following
his release and was soon observed to be
frequenting areas where children
regularly played and demonstrating
behaviour that again gave cause for
serious concern about the safety of
those children.
Given the information they had already
been provided with, and following
further liaison with police and probation
officers from Humberside, the new area
was able to apply for and successfully
obtain a Sex Offender Order.
7
Internal restraints are the offender’s self-
management, often learned through
participation in offending behaviour
programmes.
External restraints can take the form of
conditions placed on the offender to do or
not do some specific activity. Some of these
controls are set in place at the start of our
work with an offender in the community
e.g. conditions can be attached to a
Community Rehabilitation Order by the
court, committing the offender to attend a
programme or see a psychiatrist. Prior to an
offender coming out of prison on a
”licence”, conditions can be attached to that
licence laying down certain activities the
offender must or must not do, places they
must not go or contacts they must not
make.
Other external restraints are;
Restraining Orders
Two Restraining Orders were granted
against offenders subject to the MAPPA.
These Orders are made at the time of
sentencing and place restrictions on an
offender’s behaviour where this is necessary
to protect the public in general or a
particular individual from the possibility of
serious harm from that offender.
Other controls have been applied at a later
stage if the offender’s behaviour indicated
that the risk they present is increasing.
Sex Offender Orders
Sex Offender Order can be taken out at any
time where it can be proved that the subject
has been convicted of certain sex offences
and there is reasonable cause to believe that
the Order is necessary to protect the public
from serious harm from the subject.
One Sex Offender Order was successfully
applied for in our Area.
Both of these types of Order will be replaced
by the Sexual Offences Prevention Order
under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 when
that act comes into force4.
4
Provisions of the Sexual Offender Act 2003 will
commence with effect from1st May 2004.

Two boys aged 2 and 11 were reported
missing by their mother. Information
provided by the mother to the Police
Missing Persons Officer contained a
name of a man known to the local Risk
Management Co-ordinator as being a
registered sex offender with convictions
for offences against young boys and
subject to MAPPA management.
Quick checks confirmed suspicions and
police attended the address of the
offender where the boys were found
safe and well.
The boys were unharmed and quite
happy but from the mans behaviour and
the circumstances in which the children
were found it was clear that grooming
to enable abuse was taking place.
Within two hours the Probation Service
had arranged for the man to be recalled
to prison.
Following the offenders eventual release
risk assessments by the police and
probation services indicated that he still
posed a high risk to children and
therefore a successful application was
made to the Courts for a Sex Offender
Order
Disclosure
There may, exceptionally, be some cases
where management of an offender’s risk in
the community cannot be carried out
without the disclosure of some information
to a third party outside of the usual MAPPA
agencies. This may be, for example, where
an employer, voluntary group organiser or
church leader has a position of responsibility
or control over the offender and other
people who may be at serious risk from the
offender. Disclosure to them of certain
information about the offender may be the
only way to manage that risk. Wherever
possible the situation would be discussed
with the offender and voluntary disclosure
encouraged, with probation and/or police
supporting them in this.
8
Great caution is exercised when making
such a disclosure and it is seen as an
exceptional measure as the disclosure may
be to individual members of the public. If
such a course of action is required it is
always as part of a risk management plan,
which has been agreed at either of the two
highest levels of MAPPA management, i.e.
LRMMs or MAPPPs.
A very high-risk registered sex offender
moved into the area from another
county. Although he was on a
Community Rehabilitation Order and
supervised by probation, his previous
convictions were concerning as he had
on one occasion entered a primary
school to assault a child.
A level 3 MAPPP was convened to
include a representative of the Local
Education Authority. The offender was
advised of this multi agency approach
following which he consented to
restricted, but relevant, disclosure being
made to a number of schools within
the area.
He also agreed to his voluntary
exclusion from four neighbouring
villages. Joint police and probation
visits were arranged and the subject
remains fully cooperative.
Recall to prison
An ultimate external restraint for offenders
who are subject to supervision under
“licence” following their release from prison
can be a recall to prison if they break their
licence condition or it is felt the risk they
present is becoming unmanageable in the
community.
Three offenders subject to the highest level
of management, Level 3, were recalled to
prison during this last year.
What about the victims of
serious crime?
The probation service has a statutory
responsibility to contact all victims of sexual
and violent crime where the perpetrator has
been sentenced to 12 months or more in
prison5. In our area we have 2 specialist
Victim Liaison Officers in the probation
service covering the two geographical areas
north and south of the Humber. The duties
of those officers are to;
• Make contact with relevant victims,
• Consult the victim about the release
arrangements for the offender and make
the victim’s views known to the
supervising probation officer, the local
MAPPA co-ordinator, the prison
authorities and, where relevant, the
parole board;
• Make recommendations about licence
conditions or other aspects of the
offender’s release;
• Advise probation colleagues and the
MAPPA co-ordinator about any victim
concerns relevant to the management of
the individual offender
• Keep victims informed about any
significant developments during sentence
or after release, including notification of
release dates and any additional
measures being taken to increase their
safety.
Naturally, it is up to victims to decide
whether they wish to take up the offer of
contact with the probation service and, if
they do, how much and at what stages. The
duration of contact with individual victims
can last for several years.
The probation service does not offer
specialised counselling in regard to the
physical and emotional effects the crime
may have had on the victim, this is left to
5
Criminal Justice and Court Services Act (2000)
sect. 69.
9
organisations better able to deliver this e.g.
Social Services – child care, Victim Support
and NCH, the children’s’ charity.
A man was sentenced to a long term of
imprisonment for the offence of
attempted murder. The victim was a
female with whom he was having a
relationship and the offence occurred
when she tried to end the relationship.
As well as any psychological impact, the
offence perpetrated against the victim
caused life threatening injuries and has
left permanent scarring.
The Victim Liaison Officer from the
probation service established victim
contact and the views and concerns of
the victim were ascertained. These were
shared with the offender's supervising
probation officer and, due to the
assessed high risk posed to the victim,
the case was referred to the MAPPA.
Following Level 2 Local Risk Management
meeting under the MAPPA a 'package' of
measures was agreed to manage the risk
posed to the victim upon the offender's
release. These included;
a) Agreement by local police to install a
panic alarm in the victims house,
b) Placement of the offender in a local
probation hostel on a temporary
basis then moving him on to a hostel
out of the area.
c) Establishing an exclusion zone as a
condition of his release licence.
d) Establishing strong links of
communication between the areas
involved in the management of the
offender.
Following the offender's release the
victim has stated that she has not had
any form of contact from the offender
and is greatly appreciative of the way the
risk the offender poses has been
managed.
Therefore, although the primary focus of the
MAPPA is properly placed upon the risk and
behaviour of the offender as you can see
from the above, the victims’ concerns are
considered and reflected in risk assessments
and risk management plans under the
MAPPA.
Oversight of the MAPPA -
The Strategic Management
Board
Oversight of the arrangements put in place
to manage the offenders falling under the
MAPPA is undertaken by a Strategic
Management Board. This group currently
comprises senior managers from probation
police, prison service, social services, health
and housing
In an area such as Humberside multi agency
work is not always as simple as we would
wish. Though the police and probation
services share a common boundary,
Humberside covers the unitary authority
areas of North East Lincolnshire, North
Lincolnshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and
the City of Kingston-upon-Hull.
At the beginning of this review year there
were 4 Strategic Management Boards, one
for each of the 4 Unitary
Authority/Police/Probation Divisions.
In early 2004, again to provide consistency
and a central awareness of the MAPPA
process across the four Unitary Authorities,
a Humberside Area SMB was constituted to
replace the 4 local ones.
Key Progress and
Achievements over the
last year.
A major achievement in the way the MAPPA
functions in your area is the steady increase
in the number and variety of agencies which
now regularly participate in Local Risk
Management Meetings to oversee the
10
supervision of those level II offenders.
Representatives now attend these meetings
from police, probation, Social Services Child
Protection, Community Psychiatric Service,
Jobcentre and local colleges
This commitment to “active participation”
by other agencies in managing the offenders
we work with has been fostered through
local negotiation and contact. In developing
this participation we have successfully pre-
empted requirements introduced by the two
main influences over the last 12 months on
the way we carry out this work, the MAPPA
Guidance already mentioned and the
Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Firstly this commitment from the agencies
and the co-operation we have has enabled
most cases considered to be dealt with at
Local Risk Management Meeting level. This
is consistent with the aim of managing at
the lowest level.
This practice has confirmed what research
already indicates, that public protection is
significantly strengthened by a collaborative
approach to addressing those factors (such
as accommodation, employment and
meeting health care needs) which are critical
in determining whether an offender will re-
offend.
It is now not uncommon for agencies other
than police or probation to refer cases to
the MAPPA and thereby access the support
other agencies can provide.
Secondly, the latest Criminal Justice Act
6
places a “Duty to co-operate” on certain
agencies from April this year. Those agencies
are the Youth Offending Teams, Social
Services and Housing, Education and Health
all of whom are in fact involved already in
Humberside.
Serious Further Offences Procedures
In March 2004 a notification, screening and
review procedure for serious further
offences committed by offenders currently
being supervised by the probation service
was introduced nationally. The purpose of
this is to ensure that a robust system of
6
Criminal Justice Act (2003), sect. 326.
scrutiny is in place for these offenders so
that any failures can be identified and
rectified, but also that good practise, not
withstanding the commission of a serious
further offence, is recognised and
supported.
The trigger factor for this process is the
seriousness of the further offence
committed not the level of supervision or
risk management being applied so this is
not purely a MAPPA initiative, however
scrutiny of these case leads to learning and
possible changes in service delivery relevant
to all offenders.
Appointment of MAPPA Co-ordinator
The National Probation Service – Humberside
and Humberside Police appointed a
Multi–Agency Public Protection
Arrangements (MAPPA) Co-ordinator in April
2004. The person appointed is a Senior
Probation Officer with experience of
managing high risk violent and sexual
offenders in the community.
The anticipated contribution of this role will
include providing a central point of contact
within the Humberside area and, by co-
ordinating local inter-agency risk
management meetings and Multi-Agency
Public Protection Panels, ensuring a
consistent, integrated approach towards
sharing information on high and very high
risk offenders, thus enabling us to work
cohesively with other agencies to protect
the public and victims of crime.
The coming year -
Strengthening the MAPPA
The national development of the MAPPA
over the coming year will continue to
concentrate on implementing the MAPPA
provisions of the Criminal Justice Act (2003).
These provisions came into force on 5th
April 2004 and help strengthen the MAPPA
by:
(i) making the Prison Service part of the
‘Responsible Authority’ with police and
probation;
11
(ii) formalising the involvement of other
agencies which can make an important
contribution to helping offenders not
to re-offend - the Act imposes a ‘Duty
to Co-operate’ with the Responsible
Authority upon:
• Local authority Housing, Education and
Social Services
• Health Service bodies
• Jobcentres Plus
• Youth Offending Teams
• Registered Social Landlords which
accommodate MAPPA offenders, and
• Electronic Monitoring providers
(iii) The appointment by the Home
Secretary of two members of the
public (‘Lay Advisers’) in each Area to
assist in monitoring the effectiveness
of the MAPPA.
Prison Service becoming part of the
“Responsible Authority”
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 puts the
involvement of the Prison Service in the
MAPPA on a statutory footing by including it
in the Responsible Authority, along with the
police and probation services.
As well as bringing a prison service
involvement to the Strategic Management
Board overseeing the MAPPA, this initiative
is seen as a strengthening of the existing
liaison with prisons in regard to sexual and
violent offenders.
The “Duty to Co-operate”
Work on the duty to co-operate has been
taken forward by two separate and
complementary initiatives. First, in many
areas the duty to co-operate formalises
what has already begun to be established as
good practice. The statutory basis of the
duty will help ensure a more consistent
engagement of all these agencies across
England and Wales. Secondly, the relevant
Central Government Departments and the
Welsh Assembly have been involved in
developing the Guidance which the Home
Secretary issued on the duty to co-operate.
The reform of the way in which child
protection is organised, following the public
inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria
Climbie, will reinforce the importance of
effective joint working between different
agencies which the MAPPA has itself
promoted.
Appointment of Lay Advisers to
Strategic Management Board
The introduction of an element of public
scrutiny of this often complex and sensitive
area of public protection through the
appointment of two Lay Advisers in each
Area, has been carefully and successfully
trialed and evaluated. As Home Office
Minister Paul Goggins said:
“Lay Advisers will play a vital
role…We are committed to giving
them not only an insight into how
this work is carried out but, more
importantly, an opportunity to
question what is being done and
why.”
These Lay Advisers will assist in the MAPPA
review functions and not be involved in
operational decision making. The
involvement of such advisers has been
piloted in certain areas and their role has
proved valuable as “critical friends”,
informed observers who will ask questions
which professionals closely involved in the
work would not necessarily think of asking.
They are not to be seen as representatives of
the community in the same way perhaps as
elected councillors are, they will bring to the
Board their understanding and perspective
of the Area but will have no role in
reporting or briefing the community except
as part of the Board’s own communication
exercises.
In the coming year Lay Advisers will be
appointed to the Board in Humberside.
Other legislative measures
In addition to this work to strengthen the
MAPPA, the Government has also begun to
strengthen other statutory provisions, the
most significant of which the Sexual
Offences Act (2003) and the measures to
12
introduce new sentences for ‘dangerous’
offenders which will keep them in custody
until they no longer pose a serious risk to
the public.
The Sexual Offences Act overhauls the many
antiquated sexual offences and plugs
loopholes in the law. In updating sexual
offences, it strengthens the law on rape and
on sex offences against children. It
introduces new offences of ‘sexual
grooming’ and extends the protection from
exploitation in prostitution or pornography
to children up to 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.
The Sexual Offences Act also strengthens the
sex offenders register, which has proved a
valuable means by which the police can
monitor convicted sex offenders within their
area, and introduces new civil orders to help
prevent further offences from being
committed.
The focus on victims
In addition to all this work to tackle
offenders, the Government has rightly
placed much greater emphasis upon
meeting the needs of victims. The victims of
sexual offending are identified as a priority
group within the National Victims and
Witnesses Strategy. This strategy which was
published in July 2003, aims to improve
support and protection for victims and
witnesses by:
• reducing the adverse effects of crime on
victims and witnesses, and preventing
secondary victimisation;
• encouraging more victims and witnesses
to come forward; and
• by offering more options to victims and
witnesses, including alternatives to
attendance at court.
All these initiatives will help toward another
key Government target - that of improving
public confidence in the criminal justice
system.
The Government is underpinning this work
in its Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims
Bill, which is currently going through
Parliament. It will create a new independent
post of Commissioner for Victims and
Witnesses to be a champion/voice for all
victims of crime and a new statutory
Victims’ Code of Practice (to be
implemented in April 2005) which will build
on the existing Victims’ Charter and set out
specific responsibilities that each criminal
justice service agency and Victim Support
must provide to victims.
ViSOR
ViSOR is a computer based Violent & Sex
Offender Register and is set to play a vital
role locally and nationally in monitoring sex,
dangerous and violent offenders.
It is planned to introduce the use of ViSOR
in Humberside towards the end of 2004.
Until now, police and probation have relied
on local unconnected databases to record
details of offenders in their area. This has
made it difficult to keep track of individuals
as they move from area to area.
ViSOR’s introduction is crucial if both
services are to comply with their duties
under the current legislation.
The information sharing potential under
ViSOR will make police and probation
officers responsible for monitoring this
category of offender more effective. Because
all forces and probation areas will eventually
have access to the database, intelligence
added by a police or probation officer in
one part of the country will become
immediately searchable by officers in
another part.
The database will contain a vast array of
information on individuals making it more
difficult for them to change appearance and
re-emerge undetected in another part of the
country.
ViSOR will comply with the Human Rights
Act and the Data Protection Act.
13
Statistics
Typically the Probation Service in
Humberside supervises some 2300 individual
offenders in the community at any one time.
Additionally they have responsibility for
another 1200 offenders sentenced to
imprisonment who are either in prison or
have been released “on licence”.
Humberside police are currently managing
584 Registered Sex Offenders.
It is against these figures that the number of
offenders coming under the MAPPA must be
considered in order that anxieties are not
raised disproportionately.
If comparisons are made with last year’s
figures it is seen that Registered Sex
Offenders living in this area has increased by
40. An increase is to be expected as the
figure are cumulative as offenders are
convicted and required to register for
extended periods of time, a minimum of 5
years and generally much longer. The
increase in Humberside is in fact just over
7% whereas the national average is nearer
16%.
The number of Category 2 offenders, i.e.
violent and other sexual offenders,
considered under MAPPA during the period
1st April 2003 to 31st March 2004 is 155.
This figure is down on last year as details of
this category of offender have been
presented in a slightly different way. This
year, only those offenders who were actually
in the community are included.
Humberside area has 4 prisons situated
within its boundaries and whilst some of the
offenders in those institutions will be
Humberside residents and therefore are
likely to return to our local communities,
many are from other areas and will move
back there on release. Similarly offenders
from Humberside, particularly those who
have committed the more serious offences
and therefore are serving longer sentences,
are in prisons out of our area but will
probably return here on release. If they do
that then they will of course appear in the
figures relevant to the year of their release
date.

In light of the above numbers, the fact that

in managing those offenders we only
needed to do this through level 3 MAPPPs
with 8 offenders indicates, we believe, how
well the multi agency co-operation works in
Humberside. The number is significantly
down from last year’s figure of 135. This
reduction is due to our robustly applying the
criteria introduced in the Guidance
7
implemented in April 2003 and
demonstrates our ability to comply with the
main thrust of the MAPPA, that they focus
on the “critical few” who pose high risks, or
who, although not of the highest risk,
present particular difficulties in their
management.

7 The MAPPA Guidance. (2003) Home Office.

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MAPPA ANNUAL REPORTS STATISTICAL INFORMATION
For the period 1st APRIL 2003 - 31st MARCH 2004

Humberside

1. Category 1 Offenders: Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs)

i) The number of RSOs living in your area on 31st March 2004. 584
ia) The number of RSOs in your area per 100’000 head of population *. 66
ii) The number of sex offenders in your area having a registration requirement who were either
cautioned or convicted for breaches of the requirement, between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004 26
iii) The number of full Sex Offender Orders (a) applied for and (b) imposed by the courts in your a) 1
area between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004. b) 1
iv) The number of interim Sex Offender Orders (a) applied for and (b) imposed by the courts in a) 0
your area between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004. b) 0

2. Category 2 Offenders: violent offenders and other sexual offenders.

i) The number of violent and other sexual offenders (as defined by Section 68 (3), (4) and (5) of the
Criminal Justice and Court Services Act (2000)) living in your area between 1st April 2003
and 31st March 2004 155

3. Category 3 Offenders: Other offenders

i) The number of ‘other offenders’ (as defined by Section 67 (2)(b) of the Criminal Justice and
Court Services Act (2000)) living in your area between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004. 55
ii) The number of Restraining Orders imposed on any MAPPA offenders by the courts in your area
between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004. 2

4. Level 3 - Multi Agency Public Protection Panel managed cases

i) MAPPA offenders in each of the three Categories (i.e. (1)- RSOs, (2)- V&O and (3)- OO above) RSO) 5
who have been managed through the MAPPP (level 3) between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004. V&O) 2
OO) 1
ii) Cases managed by the MAPPP (i.e. 4.i) between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004 and whilst still in the
MAPPP:
Were returned to custody for a breach of licence a) 1
Were returned to custody for a breach of a restraining order or sex offender order b) 0
Were charged with a serious sexual or violent offence c) 0

* For the purposes of calculating the number of Registered Sex Offenders per 100,000 head of population, figures from the
2001 census have been used. The population for Humberside was reported as 880985.

15
Agency Contact Points

Humberside Police

Police Headquarters 01482 326111

Priory Road
Kingston–upon-Hull
HU5 5SF

National Probation Service – Humberside

Head Office 01482 867271

21 Flemingate
Beverley
East Yorkshire
HU17 0NP

HM Prison Service

Yorkshire and Humberside Area Office 01937 544500

Marston House
Audby Lane
Wetherby
LS22 7SD

MAPPA Co-ordinator

c/o Crime Management Policy Unit 01482 220248

Humberside Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston-upon-Hull
HU5 5SF

Victim Support Schemes

Hull 01482 587666

Haltemprice & Holderness 01482 307284

East Yorkshire 01262 401689

Goole and Pocklington 01405 767070

Grimsby and Cleethorpes 01472 250251

Scunthorpe and North East Lincolnshire 01724 871324

National Victim Support Line 0845 30 30 900

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