HC Deb 22 July 2002 vol 389 cc861-2W
Dr. Iddon

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the first multi-agency public protection annual report; and if he will make a statement on the publication of local area reports. [72778]

Hilary Benn

I am today publishing the first Multi-Agency Public Protection Annual Report (MAPPA) annual report, a copy of which is being placed in the Library. Local police and probation areas will from tomorrow begin to publish their own reports, and these will provide the public with information on the number of offenders covered by the arrangements.

The work done in the past year by the Multi Agency Public Protection Panel in managing risk has contributed to a higher level of public protection from potentially dangerous offenders in the community.

Our aim is that the MAPPA process should be transparent and that members of the public should be able to see what is being done on its behalf. That is why the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 requires each area to publish a report detailing the work it has done in the past year. That is also why I announced last month that members of the public were being invited to apply to sit on the boards overseeing these arrangements in five pilot areas.

In seeing the information which these reports now make available for the first time, I hope the public will be reassured by the work being done on their behalf.