Amendment 61: Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Amendment 61, which was lodged by Katy Clark, would require that the Scottish ministers review the impact of part 2 of the bill on the operation of the multi-agency public protection arrangements—MAPPA—within three years of royal assent and publish a report on that review. For a number of reasons, I cannot support the amendment. They are the same reasons why I could not support Katy Clark’s almost identical amendment at stage 2.
I am sympathetic to the broader public protection motivation, if not the practical effect of the amendment. It does not seem to take into account the fact that the Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005 already requires each MAPPA area to carry out an annual review of the arrangements for that area and publish a report. The Scottish ministers can notify the MAPPA partners of information that they wish them to include in their reports, and the Scottish Government produces an annual overview report of the arrangements. Those reports can, at present, make comment on relevant public protection matters and could provide a mechanism for reviewing the impacts of the bill that are relevant to MAPPA, if necessary.