Multi-agency tasking and coordination (MATAC) to reduce domestic abuse offending

The key aims for the initiative are to:

• prevent further domestic abuse related offending
•  improve victim safety
• change offender behaviour
• improve partnership engagement

The initiative aims to reduce the number of repeat incidents and harm to victims of domestic abuse (DA). This is measured by a reduction in scores on the recency, frequency, gravity & victims analytical spreadsheet (RFGV). The intelligence management officer (IMO) reviews and monitors these scores. Nominals are encouraged to engage with core partners to ensure they are trying to reduce their offending.

This project was rolled out in North Yorkshire in 2019 through the Domestic Abuse: Whole Systems Approach project, involving six other regional police forces in the North East. The aim is to develop and strengthen partnership working and innovatively tackle domestic abuse. The intended overall outcome of MATAC is to reduce reoffending of the most harmful and serial domestic abuse perpetrators and to safeguard victims and their families.  

A range of interventions can be delivered via MATAC including:

• support
• prevention
• diversion
• disruption
• enforcement. 

MATAC meeting

The MATAC meeting occurs every four weeks and is split into five areas:

• Hambleton & Richmondshire
• Harrogate
• Scarborough/Ryedale
• Selby
• York

North Yorkshire Police chair the meeting, which is attended by numerous community-based intervention teams. These could include drug and alcohol services, housing, Victim Support, children services, adult services and probation. The MATAC meeting discusses those who have been identified as causing most harm to victims.

MATAC team

The MATAC team identify nominals to engage with and challenge about their behaviours. They can be identified by:

• RFGV spreadsheet
• referrals into MATAC from partner agencies
• professional judgement via researching multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC) lists, detained persons and the daily management meetings (DMM)

In the MATAC process, adoption refers to when the nominals are first brought into the multi-agency discussion and archive is when they are no longer discussed at the meetings. 

The MATAC team can also suggest nominals to be archived from the process. Once archived, they are remotely monitored for a minimum of a year. They can also suggest nominals to be adopted into MATAC. As this approach is partnership working, if one or more of the partners disagree with the proposed archiving or adoption of a nominal, further discussion takes place. North Yorkshire Police override the decisions of the majority.

MATAC meeting agenda

A week before the meeting an agenda and action plan (from previous meetings) is e-mailed to the attending cohort.  This enables them to complete any outstanding actions and to research the MATAC nominals being discussed. At each of the five area MATAC meetings, the chair welcomes and introduces all the attendees. The outstanding actions from the action plan are discussed and updated.

The MATAC meetings operate to the following agenda:

• Proposed archived nominals: North Yorkshire Police put forward suggested archives at the beginning of each meeting. All partners submit their representations, and a decision is made to archive or not.
• Nominal to be reviewed: Nominals stay within the MATAC process for a minimum of  three months to allow for the serving of the MATAC letter and for evidence of a reduction in offending behaviour.
• Proposed adoptees into the MATAC process: The MATAC IMO will have already sent the attendees a full profile of the proposed nominal. The profile identifies the nominal in full, including warning markers, flags, current orders or injunctions, the victim’s details (and those of any associated children at risk), a full break down of domestic abuse history (predominantly over the last two years), Police National Computer (PNC) & Police National Database (PND) search outcomes and any other additional relevant information.  Partners will divulge their information and a decision will be made if the nominal is suitable to be adopted into the MATAC process.

All MATAC nominals are informed that they have been identified as causing serious/most harm to victims of domestic violence. They are also told that police will do all in their power to disrupt and deter them via the serving of the MATAC letter.  

The serving of the letter does not rely on the consent of the victim and is a MATAC decision.  Where possible the serving of the letter will be undertaken by a partner agency who is currently working with the offender as this does not conflict with work they are already doing.  If the nominal is in prison, great success has been had by asking prisons to serve the letter. Prison key workers and offender managers then engage with the nominal, signposting them to support in the community on release. For all other letters, police officers and/or PCSO’s serve the letter.

The minutes of the MATAC meeting includes all nominals discussed, These are shared with partners.  All appropriate actions are recorded in the MATAC action plan, which is also sent to partners.  The minutes are then put on NICHE (police records management system) on the MATAC occurrence number. The offender profile and MATAC letter are also put on NICHE.  

Once the MATAC letter is served, the occurrence enquiry log (OEL) is updated to reflect this. The MATAC team will also contact the nominal to assess whether they would like support from any of our partner agencies and make referrals (with consent) as appropriate.  Offenders’ behaviours are addressed in the referrals made. Any contact made with the offender and further referrals made are recorded on the OEL. Where perpetrators refuse to engage in the process, the MATAC team will send a task via the relevant area command tactical tasking and coordinating group (TTCG). Disruption tactics are then adopted.  

Delivery of the MATAC letters 

Area commanders (superintendent) or deputy (chief inspector) are ultimately responsible for tasking out the serving of MATAC letters in each command appropriately and within the agreed timescale of one month. The letters will include a risk assessment for each offender to ensure the uniformed officer delivering the letter is aware of any associated risks, for example, warning markers, flags and relevant intelligence. 

• The MATAC team will upload letters to be served to new MATAC nominals each month via DMM. The letters will be uploaded onto the safeguarding section of the relevant command area DMM. 
• All letters will be accompanied by a risk assessment.
• The risk assessment will include relevant warning markers, flags and intelligence for the officer to be aware of prior to issuing. 
• During the DMM, the letter should be allocated to a named uniformed officer to serve the identified serial perpetrator. The letter is read out in its entirety to the perpetrator and they are signposted to MATAC directly for any additional questions or to discuss support.
• The request remains live on the DMM safeguarding section until the action is completed.
• Issuing of the letter should be captured on body-worn video (BWV) as per force policy that uniformed officers must record every policing encounter.
• A copy of the letter must be left with the perpetrator. 
• Once the letter has been issued, the officer must update the OEL before they go off duty, providing details of any significant response to the content of the letter.
• When the letter has been served and the OEL updated, the officer should then update their supervisor that the DMM request can be closed. The sergeant will then put the result of the request on the DMM safeguarding section.
• If the letter cannot be delivered on the day of allocation, the officer is required to update their supervision and attempt to complete delivery within their following shifts. If it cannot be completed prior to their rest days, the supervisor should ensure it is handed onto the next team returning from rest days. The returning team sergeant will then allocate it at the DMM, following the process outlined.
• The MATAC coordinator will monitor OELs on a regular basis to ensure that the letters are delivered in a timely manner and MATAC records are maintained accordingly. 
• For offenders who are no fixed abode: MATAC acknowledge that whilst it may be more challenging to deliver letters to those with no fixed address, local officers may well be aware of locations frequented by the perpetrator. Where possible, letters will be delivered with the assistance of other partners engaging with the perpetrator, or by custody colleagues if the offender is arrested and detained. Where it is necessary to allocate via DMM, the request will be made to the command area in which the last known address is listed. 
   

MATAC reports to a MATAC/MARAC steering group each quarter. The below data relates to 317 nominals that have been adopted by MATAC since Dec 2018. A lower score reflects a reduction in offending:

• 206 nominals had a lower score on their archive from MATAC than did when they were adopted.
• 73% had a lower score 3 months after adoption (221)
• 76% had a lower score 6 months after adoption (215)
• 82% had a lower score 9 months after adoption. (221)
• 81% had a lower score 12 months after adoption. (197)
• 81 no longer have RFGV scores meaning there has been no new offending in 2 years
• 138 nominals have been archived by monitoring meaning no new offending in 1 year since archive

There has also been a reduction in repeat offences and reduced risk profile for some offenders:

• 71 nominals had no new incidents 6 months post adoption date
• 102 nominals had no new incidents 6 months post archive date

North Yorkshire Police are unable to determine that MATAC alone is the catalyst for the reduction but the statistics are positive/reassuring. 

The following learning and recommendations from this initiative are:

• Work is ongoing to embed and enforce disruption work through escalation to TTCG/DMM. Currently more work is underway to increase police attendance at meetings and look at disruption tactics and escalation processes. 
• We used Northumbria’s design for MATAC which worked well. Other forces, such as Durham, have larger teams involved in their approach. 
• It is important to look at how the force already identifies repeat perpetrators, how MATAC can pursue any gaps, and any other multi-agency platforms that can be utilised, for example MARAC and MAPPA.
• In terms of costing, the team is currently very small. It consists of a coordinator, IMO and chair. We request the use of internal resource for some of our work (for example custody and response officers) through the DMM and mainly that of partners within the meetings themselves. 

See the crime reduction toolkit for the best-available evidence on Motivational interviewing for domestic abusers | College of Policing