Social Work And Health Committee - 28/10/2013

At a MEETING of the SOCIAL WORK AND HEALTH COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 28th October, 2013.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Ken LYNN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 23rd September, 2013 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were made.

II ADULT SUPPORT AND PROTECTION COMMITTEE - INDEPENDENT CONVENERS FIFTH YEAR REPORT

There was submitted Report No 418-2013 by the Director of Social Work advising that the Independent Convener of the Adult Support and Protection Committee had produced his Fifth Year Report April, 2012 - September, 2013, and to inform Committee members of the key progress and ongoing issues from the recommendations highlighted in the last Biennial Report.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the Independent Convener's Fifth Year Report which was attached to this report as an Appendix;

(ii) to note the progress that had been made since the Biennial Report in 2012 in developing an effective partnership response to adult support and protection issues in the city; and

(iii) to note the Independent Convener's recommendations as outlined in Section 10 of the report and paragraph 4.5 of the report.

III REPORT ON ARRANGEMENTS FOR MANAGING HIGH RISK OFFENDERS

There was submitted Report No 416-2013 by the Director of Social Work summarising the sixth Annual Report on arrangements for managing high risk offenders across Tayside and covering the period 1st April, 2012 - 31st March, 2013.

The Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 introduced a statutory duty on Responsible Authorities - Local Authorities, Scottish Prison Service (SPS), Police and Health - to establish joint arrangements for the assessment and management of the risk posed by certain offenders who posed a risk of harm to the public. The Responsible Authorities were required to keep the arrangements under review and publish an annual report.

The introduction of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) in 2007 introduced a consistent approach to the management of certain high risk offenders. Within Scotland, the implementation of MAPPA had been phased and currently extended to Registered Sex Offenders (RSO) and Restricted Patients (RPs).

Restricted Patients (RPs) were defined within the Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 as persons who, by virtue of their mental health, were confined for treatment under current Mental Health legislation.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the sixth annual report and the ongoing developments in relation to high risk offenders, which was attached as an Appendix to the report, including that:-

whilst work continued on a national basis to agree the arrangements for violent offenders, partners locally continued to work co-operatively in relation to high risk offenders holding risk management meetings where appropriate;

(ii) to instruct the Director of Social Work to inform the Committee of any developments in relation to violent offenders;

(iii) to instruct the Director of Social Work to present such reports to Committee on an annual basis; and

(iv) to conclude, based on the information provided in the report, that MAPPA continued to work well across Tayside.

Ken LYNN, Convener.