Public Protection North Lanarkshire

We believe that all children and young people in North Lanarkshire have the right to be cared for and protected from abuse and harm in a safe environment in which their rights are respected. This is the North Lanarkshire Child Protection Committee Vision.

We have a lead responsibility for multi-agency child protection policy and practice in North Lanarkshire and we promote co-operation and joint working across organisations for the protection of children.

The functions of Child Protection Committees across Scotland are set out in the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland updated 2023

North Lanarkshire’s Adult Protection Committee: Strategic Statement

Our Vision

North Lanarkshire’s Adult Protection Committee (NLAPC) vision is that adults who experience or are at risk of harm are safer as a result of the support, protection and services they receive.
Our aim is to drive forward professional and public awareness of harm affecting adults at risk; working in partnership with our members and the wider community to ensure that vulnerable and at risk people in and from North Lanarkshire are safe and protected from harm. 

Role of the Adult Protection Committee

The Adult Protection Committee (APC) has a central role to play in taking an overview of adult protection activity in North Lanarkshire council area, and making recommendations to ensure that adult protection activity is effective. Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 (legislation.gov.uk)

As laid out in Sections 42-47; Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, the Committee has a significant role in ensuring cooperation and communication within and across agencies to promote appropriate support and protection for adults. 

Adult Protection Committees have a range of statutory functions:

• Reviewing adult protection procedures and practices
• Improving co-operation
• Improving skills and knowledge
• Providing information and advice
• Making Proposals

https://www.gov.scot/publications/adult-support-protection-scotland-act-2007-guidance-adult-protection-committees/pages/4/

For the APC to carry out these functions effectively, authority is delegated by the North Lanarkshire Public Protection Chief Officers Group, specifically North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire Health Board and Police Scotland. Thus the Act allows the Adult Protection Committee to regulate its own procedures, with an agreed accountability to the Chief Officers Group. This accountability is further explored in (Appendix one). 

As reflected in the Guidance for Committees, work may be delegated to sub-committees. In North Lanarkshire our Multi-agency Sub Committees reflect the statutory expectations of the legislation and the work of the first National Adult Support and Protection Improvement Plan.

Biennial Report

The phrase violence against women and girls is used to describe violent and abusive behaviour directed at women and girls because they are women and girls. It is behaviour which is carried out predominantly by men. It is an abuse of power and stems from systemic, deep-rooted women’s inequality. VAWG limits women’s and girls’ freedom and potential and is a fundamental violation of human rights.’ – Scottish Government 2023

We take these issues very seriously and have formed the North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Strategic Group in order to address them.

The group brings together statutory and voluntary organisations which have an important role to play in tackling domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women.

We aim to deliver the national approach as detailed in Equally Safe – Scotland’s Strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls at a local level and are currently implementing the North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Strategy. The national strategy, released in 2023 by the Scottish Government and COSLA, clearly places the root cause of violence against women being gender inequality.

The fundamental purpose of MAPPA is public protection and managing the risk of serious harm. MAPPA is not a statutory body in itself but is a statutory framework through which the Responsible Authorities, namely, Police Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, NHS Boards and the Local Authorities discharge their statutory responsibilities and protect the public in a co-ordinated manner.

The statutory partnership working arrangements were introduced in 2007 by virtue of Sections 10 and 11 of The Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act).

The 2005 Act requires the Responsible Authorities in a local authority area to jointly establish arrangements for assessing and managing the risk posed by certain categories of individuals who are subject to MAPPA. It also provides for agencies who have a duty to co-operate (DTC) with the Responsible Authorities in relation to the management of individuals.

MAPPA operates on a pan-Lanarkshire basis; therefore it is equally applicable in both NLC and SLC.

A copy of the MAPPA National Guidance is available at –

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA): national guidance – (www.gov.scot)