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Multi‐agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) involve joint working between agencies involved with certain offenders on their release from prison. This article looks at the statutory background and changes which are taking place from April 2004, as well as problems which can arise with regard to the sharing of information and identifying suitable housing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ramifications of developments in surveillance policies and technologies for information sharing cultures in a “public protection routine”.

This conceptual paper uses a mixed theoretical, legal and policy-based approach to inform this exploration of the ramifications of developments in surveillance policies and technologies.

This conceptual paper concludes that developments in surveillance policies and technologies as part of the “public protection routine” will result in a damaging and hasty culture of “share or be damned” unless a more careful approach to new information sharing approaches is developed. Otherwise, an increasing bureaucratisation of risk management through surveillance will lead to a disregard for the fine balance between public protection, procedural rights and privacy.

The originality and value of this conceptual paper is considerable – as some of the case studies discussed are very recent ones, and ones that represent an acceleration of the problems within the “public protection routine” which this paper seeks to unpick.

The landscape of the Probation Service in England and Wales continues to be challenged by issues of priorities, workload, and lack of meaningful relationships between offenders and practitioners. In this climate of uncertainty and ‘transformation’, vulnerable offenders on probation become the ones mostly affected due to management plans and license conditions that do not respond to the variability of their needs. This chapter explores the older individuals on probation and uses the framework of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) to examine the extent to which it may accommodate the needs of this group of offenders in an otherwise risk-based context. This study draws ideas from previous research of the author and aims to develop the existing limited academic attention that older offenders supervised under specialised probation contexts have received. The structure of the chapter remains doctrinal in nature as a response to the need for a more comprehensive and inclusive perception of the risk of reoffending later in life and its implications for bespoke community reintegration strategies. This approach also allows for theorisation of MAPPA’s multi-agency structure and its prospects for the rehabilitation of older offenders. This study finds that as MAPPA only manages violent and sexual offenders, the ‘older MAPPA offender’ becomes a special category for probation that may exhibit a variety of needs and life circumstances. It thereby becomes even more important for these offenders that a constructive working relationship between them and the probation officer is in place. This supports the latter in appreciating what factors lead the individual to offending later in life, and what interventions may be most effective to address their risk of reoffending as well as their needs in the community.

This paper reviews the progress that Cornwall County has made since the murder of Steven Hoskin and the resulting Serious Case Review (Flynn, 2007). Interviews were held with senior and frontline personnel, whose agencies were in contact with Steven and the people who moved into his bedsit. The agencies have progressed significantly, in terms of attitude and reforming the way in which they work. The outcomes and processes that have resulted from the action plans that were drawn up have been welcomed, although there are still challenges to overcome.

Kent was one of the first social services departments to develop a specific adult protection policy in 1987. This paper charts the development of policy and references key landmarks on this journey from the perspective of the policy manager's role. Opportunities are also taken to identify the key learning from this experience and the main challenges for the newly emerging safeguarding agendas.

This paper has been developed from discussions between the police and adult social care staff in adult protection training on joint investigations for managers and practitioners in Somerset. The role of the police in criminal investigations is examined and reviewed in the context of wider adult protection investigations. The case studies and discussion points are based on experience from adult protection investigations conducted by the East Somerset Public Protection Unit, and are used to identify key considerations for the effective planning, conduct and co‐ordination of adult protection investigations.

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the potential and limits of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) in supporting adults with social care needs who also experience domestic violence.

The paper reports on a scoping review as part of a wider research project entitled: to identify and assess the effectiveness of social care's contribution to the development of MARAC and the protection of adults facing domestic violence.

An understanding of the workings of MARAC could support social care practice with high-risk victims of domestic violence. However, the conception of risk assessment and management central to the process also poses ethical dilemmas for practitioners.

Social care is ideally placed to support, in an holistic manner, a group of vulnerable service-users with complex needs. However, the current climate of austerity could jeopardise this work.

There is little in the professional and academic press on the MARAC process and particularly in relation to adults and older people. This paper alerts the practice community to the process, its historical development and characteristics and implications for practice.

This paper aims to present a simple conceptual framework, outlining four pathways for guiding multi‐agency involvement in different situations of adult abuse.

The essential elements of best practice for each pathway are described.

The four situations is a framework that, together with the seven‐stage safeguarding adults pathway, has been evidenced through practice to provide a conceptual tool on which to base multi‐agency activity in response to a large variety of concerns about safeguarding adults.

The four situations framework creates a straight‐forward template that provides guidance to all concerned as to which organisations will be involved in the steps of developing the safeguarding pathways and what their roles and responsibilities will be.

The police are key partners in adult protection work locally and take lead responsibility for investigating alleged crimes committed against vulnerable adults in our communities. They therefore play a critical role in many serious and complex adult protection investigations. This paper describes how a large police service has organised its adult protection resources and maps out the basic processes and responsibilities involved in leading criminal investigations involving vulnerable adults. Using a case study it also identifies and examines the different demands criminal work brings at the inter‐agency, agency and case levels and identifies solutions and pointers for best practice.

Since the murder of Steven Hoskin, there have been considerable changes in the way that agencies in Cornwall operate. In order to prevent further tragedies on such a scale, a protocol was agreed by the agencies about when an alert should be triggered (Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Safeguarding Adults Board, 2008). This paper describes the process and implications of the protocol from the perspective of Devon and Cornwall Police, South Western Ambulance Service Trust and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust. The protocol has improved and encouraged information sharing within and between agencies, which will help to identify and reduce the risks to vulnerable adults.