Norfolk Area

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements

Annual Report 2002-3
Foreword

By Paul Goggins, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for

Community and Custodial provision in the Home Office

As the recently appointed Minister with responsibility for

the MAPPA, I am pleased to introduce this, the second,
annual MAPPA report. It is clear that in the last year
(2002/3) the multi-agency public protection
arrangements (the MAPPA) continued to play an
important role in what remains one of this government’s
highest priorities – the protection of the public from
dangerous offenders.

As someone with many years experience of working in

the field of child protection, I am particularly impressed
by the important contribution the MAPPA are making to
strengthen collaboration between agencies at a local
level where the focus is on the dangerous offender.
These improvements must, however, impact on the
protection of children. As the tragic death of Victoria
Climbie showed, an effective multi-agency partnership
is crucial and the MAPPA are an important element.

To ensure greater consistency in the MAPPA across

the 42 Areas of England and Wales, and to prepare for
the implementation of measures contained in the
Criminal Justice Bill, we published the MAPPA
Guidance in April. Building on good practice, that
Guidance clarified the structure of the operational
arrangements as well as the importance of formal
review and monitoring – of which this Annual Report is
a vital part. The Criminal Justice Bill will strengthen the
MAPPA in two ways. First, it will make the involvement
of other agencies part of the statutory framework.
Second, it will introduce the involvement of lay people –
those unconnected with day-to-day operation of the
MAPPA – in reviewing and monitoring the MAPPA.
Annual Reports and this new lay involvement show the
Government’s commitment to explaining how the often
sensitive and complex work of public protection is
undertaken.

The Government is also strengthening the protection of

the public with other measures in the Criminal Justice
Bill. They include new sentences for dangerous
offenders to prevent their release if they continue to be
dangerous. Additionally, the Sexual Offences Bill will
tighten up sex offender registration, introduce a new
offence of ‘grooming’, and enable sex offender orders
to be imposed on violent offenders who pose a risk of
causing serious sexual harm – thereby extending sex
offender registration to them.

I commend this report to you and congratulate all the

agencies and individuals who have contributed to the
achievement of the MAPPA locally in your local Area.

Paul Goggins
The National Picture

The most important work undertaken within the MAPPA

is done locally, led by the Police and Probation – who
act jointly as the ‘Responsible Authority’ in your Area –
and in each of the 42 Areas of England and Wales. The
experience and good practice upon which this work is
based began in the 1990s – most significantly as a
result of the closer working relationship required by the
Sex Offender Act (1997). The Criminal Justice and
Courts Services Act (2000) formalised that relationship
and built on the existing experience by requiring the
Police and Probation services to establish
arrangements (the MAPPA) for assessing and
managing the risks posed by sexual and violent
offenders. The Act also required the Responsible
Authority to publish an Annual Report on the operation
of those arrangements. This report, covering April 2002
to March 2003, is the second Annual Report.

The importance of partnership

Key to the development of the MAPPA in the past year

has been the closer involvement of other agencies,
such as Housing, Health and Social Services, working
alongside Police and Probation. The truly multi-agency
nature of the MAPPA and the collaboration which
underpins it is to be strengthened further by the
Criminal Justice Bill. The Bill will place a ‘duty to co-
operate’ on a wide range of organisations including
local Health Authorities and Trusts; Housing Authorities
and Registered social Landlords; Social Services
Departments; Jobcentres; Youth Offending Teams; and
local Education Authorities. In addition, the Prison
Service will join the Police and Probation services and
become part of the MAPPA ‘Responsible Authority’.

Supporting and co-ordinating the development of the

MAPPA throughout the 42 Areas of England and
Wales, is the National Probation Directorate’s Public
Protection Unit (PPU). This Unit acts as a central point
for advice and, increasingly, involvement in the
management of difficult cases. These include, for
example, UK citizens who have committed serious
offences abroad and return to this country without
anywhere to live. The Unit is also able to provide
financial support when the risk management plans
make exceptional demands upon local resources.

Involving the public

MAPPA developments in the next 18 months will also

include the appointment by the Home Secretary of two
‘lay advisers’ to each Area. The eight Areas of England
and Wales which have been piloting these
arrangements since January (Cumbria, Greater
Manchester, Durham, South Wales, Dorset,
Hampshire, Surrey and West Midlands) report that they
add real value. Lay advisers will contribute to the
review and monitoring of the MAPPA which is
undertaken by each Area’s Strategic Management
Board – the work of which you can read more in this
report.

The purpose of appointing ‘lay advisers’ is to ensure

that communities understand more of what is done to
protect them and that those involved professionally with
the MAPPA are aware of the views of the community.
The lay advisers will not ‘represent’ the community in
the way, for example, that local councillors do, nor will
they be involved in operational decision-making. And,
given the sensitivity of much of what the MAPPA does,
especially with the few offenders who pose a very high
risk of serious harm to the public, it is not practicable for
the general public to be involved. Lay advisers will,
however, ensure an appropriate and a practical level of
community involvement.
 MAPPA Offenders

This year the Annual Report provides a more detailed

breakdown of the number of sexual and violent
offenders who are covered by the MAPPA in your Area.
As last year, the figures include the number of
Registered sex offenders. Because sex offender
registration is for a minimum of 5 years (and generally
for much longer) the figures are cumulative. This is why
they have increased – by 16 per cent in England and
Wales. Only a very small proportion (about six per cent
throughout England and Wales) are considered to pose
such a high risk or management difficulty that they are
referred to the highest level of the MAPPA – the Multi-
Agency Public Protection Panels (the MAPPP).

Figures alone do not, of course, tell the whole story.

The anonymised case studies illustrate the practical
work of the MAPPA, and demonstrate the preventive
action which can be taken. Prior to the MAPPA, action
of this kind was mainly taken by one agency alone, with
the effect that on occasion offenders’ behaviour which
might have triggered preventative action went
unnoticed. The multi-agency approach of the MAPPA
helps ensure that if an offender does breach the
condition of the licence under which they were released
from prison or a court order prohibiting certain activities,
then action to enforce the condition or order and protect
the public can be taken more swiftly.

If you are interested in reading the reports of other

Areas, they will be published on the National Probation
Service’s website www.Probation.homeoffice.gov.uk
(under the public protection section) with all of them
being available once the last Area has published its
Annual Report in September.
1. Area Summary
A Journey of collaboration – the MAPPP in Norfolk

Historically, public protection In Norfolk is the story of

close working relationships between agencies
principally the Police and the Probation Service. In the
early days i.e. the early 1990’s, this was done via
informal consultation and relied on mutual good will.

Throughout the 1990’s, however, following a number

high profile cases, and in response to ongoing
legislative developments, most notably the 1997 Sex
Offender Act, Norfolk created an interagency protocol
for the management of risk and dangerousness. This
became known as the “Blue Book” to distinguish it from
other protocols and risk management procedures then
current in Norfolk. The Blue Book protocol had from
the beginning an impressive number of agencies
committed to it and the principles of risk management it
outlined. Over time the wider principle of different
agencies from the statutory and voluntary sector
working together which was implicit in the Blue Book
was refined and developed. For example, Social
Services Departments, Health Trusts and Housing
Departments and other service providers from the
voluntary sector, all started to come together to work
with the Police and Probation Service to assess,
manage and treat the most dangerous people in the
community, or who were about to enter the community
upon leaving institutional care.

Multi agency risk management panels were established

to manage this process. They developed strong cross
agency links to facilitate the process of managing risk
and dangerousness, and, because of the multi agency
nature of this work, resources from a range of agencies
were committed to managing and overseeing difficult
and dangerous people.

Following Sections 67-68 of the Criminal Justice and

Court Service Act 2000, the risk management panels
became the Multi-Agency Public Protections Panels
(MAPPPs). These were tasked to manage and
concentrate on the critical few, i.e. the very high risk
and dangerous offenders. The legislation also
established the “Notes for Guidance” principles which
outline the operation of panels and give guidance for
the publication of the Annual Report. These principles
of inter–agency work and co-operation are currently
governed by the Guidance published in 2002. The
panels are also learning from the developing practice of
their constituent agencies and from other panels within
the region.

In general, the Panel’s purpose is to provide effective

inter-agency arrangements for the assessment and
management of risk, balancing information on the
individual offender and the victims, whilst taking into
account the Human Rights of both groups Once the risk
is assessed and classified, the Panel’s task is to
develop the most effective risk management plan it can.
This will mean using any one of a number of techniques
or resources either singularly or in combination, with
the aim of reducing risk of re-offending and risk of harm
to the community.
2. Techniques we use to reduce risk
When considering risk and how to
manage it, the Panel has a range of
resources available to it and a range
of things it can do to reduce the risk
dangerous individuals pose to the
public. In the case of sex offenders
for example, the Panel may ask the
Probation Service to consider
placing them on a programme of
work and supervision known as the
Thames Valley Sex Offender
Programme. This was introduced
nationally and adopted by Norfolk
Area Probation Service in 2002. This
programme, which is aimed at
addressing sexual offending and its
impact on families and victims, is
one of a number of programmes run
by Probation Areas known as
accredited programmes. Such
programmes have been shown to
address offending behaviour in a
way that the overall levels of risk of
harm and further offending are
significantly reduced.
Other techniques available to the
panel and which the panels have
used during 2002-2003 have
included the use of surveillance to
see whether a particular offender is
behaving in such a way that places
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. MAPPPs – What they do
Following the Criminal Justice &
Court Services Act 2000, the Police
and Probation Services (collectively
known as the Responsible Authority)
were tasked with the responsibility of
assessing the risk posed to the
community by convicted sexual and
violent offenders as defined by the
legislation. The legislation also
provides for a third category of
offender who do not fall within the
legislative definition of sexual and
violent offenders but who will clearly
give cause for concern to
communities and professionals by
individuals at risk. The MAPPP has
asked the Police to gather evidence
to obtain sex offender orders. On
other occasions, it has asked Police
to place cameras in strategic
locations to monitor homes to gather
evidence of harassment. In
exceptional circumstances, the
Panel considers disclosure.
Disclosure is a device used to inform
communities of the presence of a
high-risk offender living in the
community and is only done after
very careful consideration of risk and
dangerousness by the Panel. The
Panel carefully considers all
information in the case and it follows
the guidelines laid down by the North
Wales Judgement to ensure that
disclosure is the appropriate option.
During the year 2002/03 Norfolk did
not undertake a full public disclosure
exercise but did disclose information
about individuals on a number of
occasions in a controlled way to a
restricted audience.
Because management of risk is not
a static area of work along side the
different techniques that are used
and the protocol that has been
developed other structures and
reason of their (the offenders)
behaviour.
The risk that is assessed may be
categorised into any one of four
categories of risk known as low,
medium, high, or very high risk. Risk
is assessed two ways. Firstly, using
static risk management tools which
give an actuarial prediction of risk,
these factors are based on fixed
facts such as age and criminal
convictions. Secondly and in
conjunction with a static risk
management tool, staff use dynamic
risk factors i.e. facts that may
change. These factors may include
strategies have been put into place
to manage risk and dangerousness
For example the MAPPP has worked
closely with the prisons and other
agencies to develop protocols on
information sharing with the specific
aim of community protection and risk
management ensuring all agencies
adopt a consistent approach to risk
management.
Resources currently being deployed
in the community have included the
appointment of dedicated police
liaison officers to each of the
operational areas in Norfolk. The
dedicated officers’ main job is to visit
the registered sex offenders
regularly and check on their
circumstances. This means that the
416 sex offenders currently
registered in Norfolk are monitored
and their circumstances and risk are
kept under constant review. The
Probation Area has (during 2002/03)
allocated staff to work exclusively
with sexual offenders, and
strengthened the management
arrangements in the area of
resettlement work with sentenced
offenders.
whether someone is starting to drink
or a sex offender moving into a
home with children. All this
information is collated at a panel
meeting to define the risk an
individual poses and then the
individual is placed into a category of
risk and managed accordingly. The
level of risk may change over time
depending on that individual’s
circumstances. Thus, risk
management is dynamic and ever
changing.
The MAPPPs deal with “the critical
few”, that is those individuals who
fall within the very high risk category.
Once the risk has been assessed in
this category, relevant steps are
taken to ensure, as far as
practicable, the safety of the
community These offenders who fall
within the “critical few” require much
greater oversight and input than any
one agency can provide and are
managed via the multi agency
approach. This approach is
developed following the MAPPP
meeting which formulates the risk
management action plan and
assigns tasks to different agencies.
These agencies report back to the
panel or MAPP Co-ordinator as
appropriate. Any one offender
therefore can have two, three or
even four agencies contributing
towards the management of their
risk in the community. A recent
case, for example, which came
before the MAPPP, involved the
Police Forensic Services, Housing,
Drug Agency and Probation all
working with one offender towards a
common goal of safety for the
community, but also ensuring that
the offender received appropriate
treatment and support which
ultimately reduced his capacity to re-
offend.
Most offenders who are assessed
under the MAPPA process as risky,
fall within the low and medium
categories and are successfully
managed by the agency responsible
for their care and oversight, usually
the Probation Service, and are
generally dealt with within normal
agency rules and procedures. High
risk offenders are subject to a
clarification and pre-MAPPP risk
assessment known as a local risk
management strategy meeting and
may be either referred to the Multi
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Agency Public Protection
Arrangements and dealt with as one
of the critical few or dealt with within
normal agency practices and
procedures or in some cases single
agency management with some
support short of the MAPPP.
Procedures for referring to the Multi
Agency Public Protection Process
are laid down in the Norfolk Protocol.
Offenders undergo careful single
agency screening before referral to
the MAPP Coordinator’s Office,
where the risk is re-assessed. The
case is either taken forward to Multi
Agency Management because the
risk is too high for a single agency to
manage or is referred back to the
referring agency for that agency to
manage. It is the responsibility of the
MAPP Co-ordinator to advise
agencies on levels of risk, talk to
agency representatives and advise
them on issues of risk management.
Once a case passes the risk
screening process, i.e. it is
considered High risk of harm, the
MAPP Co-ordinator will convene a
meeting of the Panel to consider the
case and the implications in
managing and working the case in a
multi agency way. The referring
agency states its case and then the
Panel will:
o Share information about the
offender
o Assess the risk as
specifically and
comprehensively as possible
o Devise a Risk Management
Plan commensurate with the
level of risk
o Identify resources from each
agency needed to manage
the risk in the community
o Designate a lead agency
and key worker
o Decide on information
sharing beyond the panel if
appropriate
o Schedule review meetings if
appropriate
The Co-ordinator also ensures that
the Action Plans are drafted on the
basis of risk with due regard to the
individual human rights of all parties.
The Panels, which meet regularly,
i.e. once every three weeks, are
made up of representatives of core
agencies in the public protection
process. This means that the panels
have the Probation, Police and
Social Service Managers meeting
regularly together to discuss people
whose risk to the community is
considered to be high. Interested
parties join core agencies as each
case demands and contribute to the
Panel’s deliberations.
The panels sitting in 2002 – 2003
discussed 78 cases. The type of
offenders which were considered
involved men and women who had
committed a range of very serious
offences such as murder
manslaughter, rape and various
other sexual and violence offences.
The Panel also considered the
appropriateness of applying for Sex
Offender Orders in five cases, three
of which were granted and two
cases are ongoing and currently
have interim order status. They are
awaiting final hearings in the latter
part of 2003. These cases are kept
under review by the Co-ordinator.
 4. What matters to you matters to us - Work with the Victims
of Crime
Section 69 of the Criminal Justice
and Court Services Act 2000 places
a statutory duty on the Probation
Service to contact the victims of
sexual and violent crime, when the
offender receives a prison sentence
in excess of twelve months, to
establish whether or not they wish to
be consulted about release
arrangements.
The Norfolk Probation Area has
dedicated staff to do this and has
been engaged in working with
victims on a local level since the
early 1980’s. The Victim Liaison
Officers under the guidance of a
Senior Probation Officer, have
developed high levels of expertise
and made many agency links to help
advise and support victims, thus
ultimately helping the victims of
serious crime come to terms with the
effects of serious and damaging
offending on their lives.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
5. How does it work in practice?
The Multi-Agency Panel is chaired
by the Multi Agency Protection Panel
Co-ordinator and has, at its heart,
three agencies that make up its core
membership: the Police and the
Probation Service who are
represented by Senior Managers
from those agencies, and the
Service Manager (Child Protection)
from the Social Service Department.
The Panel meets every three weeks
and considers up to five cases per
session.
The Panel listens to all the
information that agencies bring on
an individual offender and considers
what it has heard and then makes an
assessment of risk using a
combination of static and dynamic
risk factors. It draws up the Risk
Management Action Plan, which is
the document that states what needs
A victim recently commented that
they “were grateful for the visit of two
lovely ladies”. Other victims have
commented that they “were very
satisfied with the information (that)
was given. It was very helpful” other
victims have “thanked (Probation
staff) …for explaining the system to
me… it is good to hear and have
dates when he can come out .“
Broadly, the Probation Service offers
advice and regularly monitors the
work it does with victims and the
effect that it has. The Probation
Service is always sensitive to the
needs of victims and is constantly
seeking to refine this area of its
work.
The Victims Unit has developed a
protocol with the MAPPP to ensure
that the victim’s concerns are
properly represented within the
MAPPP system. The Protocol
to be done to manage the risk, who
will do it and when it will be done by.
The Panel will then decide whether
or not the case needs to be
reviewed. The following examples
are of two of the cases the panel
considered during the year 2002 –
2003
Case A
Mr Y, a convicted sex offender who
was not on the Sex Offender
Register because his offences were
committed before the Sex Offender
Act came into force. He was known
to approach young girls on the street
talk to them and then indecently
assault them. He regularly
frequented areas where he could
find children. A MAPPP was held
because of concerns regarding his
behaviour. A joint operation was
then launched between surveillance
provides Victim Contact Officers with
direct access to the MAPPP
meetings so that they can inform
those meetings of the views of the
victims of the offenders being
reviewed by the MAPPP. This has
lead to the MAPPP asking for
conditions in Licences of
Supervision. Such conditions have
included non contact with the
victims, excluding the offender from
certain areas where the victims live
and work and requiring offenders to
live outside of Norfolk for the
duration of their licence.
Lastly, involvement in the MAPPP’s
also enables the Victim Contact
Officers to keep victims properly
informed about the key decisions
made in the management and
supervision of offenders should the
victims want this information.
teams from a number of police
forces and CCTV operators. His
actions were recorded and used as
evidence to obtain a Sex Offender
Order. He is now banned from
approaching any child under 16 in
the street. If he breaches this order
he can be immediately arrested and
face up to five years in prison.
Case B
Mr X had a previous conviction for
Indecent Assault. He advertised
himself as a babysitter and once
alone with the girls he indecently
assaulted them. They were all under
the age of eleven years. He was
convicted and placed on the Sex
Offender Register for five years.
However, it became apparent to a
number of agencies that Mr X was
continuing to offer babysitting to
other, mainly single women, with
children. He was told to stop by the
agencies but did not A MAPPP was
held.
This decided that a Sex Offender
Order was needed that would ban
him from this type of behaviour and
thus protect children.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Managing the Panels – Who is responsible?
The work of the MAPPP is
overseen and kept under review
by the Strategic Management
Board, which meets as a
minimum on a quarterly basis.
The Board is required to monitor
the effectiveness of the Public
Protection Panel, the plans which
flow from it and make any
changes that are necessary or
expedient to the operation of the
Panels.
The features of the Board are:
o Monitoring and evaluating the
work of the multi agency
panels;
o Liaising with other agencies
to ensure effective and
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
An order was granted banning him
from contact with any child under the
age of 12 and specifically from
offering to baby-sit. It also put him on
the Sex Offender Register for life
which affords greater child
protection.
He was later arrested for being alone
with a child as this was in breach of
consistent management of
risk at operational and
strategic levels;
o Publication of the Annual
Report;
o Long term planning and
development of the MAPPP;
o Identifying and developing the
common training and
developmental needs of those
working in the MAPPPs;
o Resolve interagency and
other complaints and
disputes;
o Ensure that proper financial
and other administrative
arrangements are in place.
The Board consists of senior
members of the Probation
his Sex Offender Order. He was
caught before he assaulted the child.
These Orders prohibit behaviour and
act as a preventative measure He is
currently in custody and on release
will be subject to Probation Service
Supervision as well as being on the
Sex Offender Register.
Service, the Police, Social
Service Departments and the
Prison Service. Other Board
Members are co-opted and
include Local Authority and
Health Service representatives.
An exciting development in 2003
– 2004 will be the appointment of
Lay Advisors to the Board, who
will, it is hoped, provide a
community perspective. It is
probable that these posts will be
advertised and recruited to
locally. Because of further
legislative changes the Board will
also welcome senior
representatives from Education,
Youth Justice and Victim Support
on to it at some point during the
year 2003 – 2004.
Population figure for Norfolk administration area as supplied by the last census in 803970
2001
RSO per 100’000 population is 52

Number of Offenders`

i. The number of Registered sex offenders on 31 March 2003 416

ii. The number of sex offenders having a registration requirement who were either 2
cautioned or convicted for breaches of the requirement, between 1 April 2002
and 31 March 2003

iii. The number of Sex Offenders Orders applied for and gained between 1 April
2002 and 31 March 2003

(a) The total number of Sex Offenders Orders applied for 5

(b) The total number granted 5

(c) The total number not granted 0

iv. The number of Restraining Orders issued by the courts between 1 April 2002 1
and 31 March 2003 for offenders currently managed within MAPPA

v. The number of violent and other sexual offenders considered under MAPPA 269
during the year 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003 (as defined by section 68 [3],
[4] and [5])

vi. The number of "other offenders" dealt with under MAPPA during the year 1 25
April 2002 and 31 March 2003 as being assessed by the Responsible Authority
as posing a risk of serious harm to the public (but who did not fall within either
of the other two categories, as defined by s.67 [2b])

vii. For each of the three categories of offenders covered by the MAPPA
("Registered sex offenders", "violent and other sex offenders" and "other
offenders"), identify the number of offenders that are or have been dealt with
by:

a) MAPPP - Registered sex offenders 16

b) MAPPP - violent and other sex offenders 57

 c) MAPPP - other offenders 5

viii. Of the cases managed by the MAPPP during the reporting year what was the
number of offenders:

a) who were returned to custody for breach of licence 10

b) who were returned to custody for breach of a Restraining Order or Sex 1

Offender Order

c) charged with a serious sexual or violent offence 0

The number of Sex Offenders has increased during the year due to an assertive policy of detection and prosecution,
which ensures that the Responsible Authority has reliable information on the whereabouts of Sex Offenders. Similarly,
the breach rate has increased slightly as the profile of dangerous offenders has become better understood during the
course of the year. The Norfolk Probation Area has taken prompt and vigorous enforcement action to ensure that
dangerous offenders, where possible, do not stay in the community but are returned to custody when their behaviour
becomes unacceptable. The “other” category has fallen during the year as the focus of the Panel has shifted to dealing
with the “critical few”. The offenders who formerly fell within this category have either been devolved to single agency
management or are being assessed and managed by local Risk Management Panels.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Conclusion
Multi-Agency Public Protection
has been developed in response
to a wide range of community
concerns. In England and Wales,
there is now a network of
notification and risk management
that is being designed to protect
communities from some of the
most difficult and dangerous men
and women in society. The work
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
of the Panels is only a part of this
process. The Panel can only do
its job with your help and
assistance. This report has,
hopefully, outlined for you the
origins of the Panel, what the
Panel does and how the Panels
are managed. We have included
an introduction from Central
Government, which we hope you
will find interesting.
Please feel free to forward any
queries or comments you wish to
make on this report to the MAPP
Co-ordinator of Norfolk.
Contacts

Norfolk Probation Area Address Phone

Hilary Collyer 4th Floor 01603 220100

Assistant Chief Officer St. James Yarn Mill
Risk Management Whitefriars
Norwich

Norfolk Police Address Phone

Jacqueline D. Westrop Public Protection Unit 01953 424242

MAPP Co-ordinator Norfolk Constabulary
Jubilee House
Wymondham
Norfolk
NPS Norfolk
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