Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) 

Please see information below on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham MARAC. To make a referral, please see the documents below:

MARAC Risk and Referral Form

MARAC Referral Guidelines

What is a MARAC?

A MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference) meets to combine up to date risk information with a timely assessment of a domestic violence victim’s needs in order to link those directly to the provision of appropriate services for all those involved in a domestic violence case: victim, children and perpetrator.

The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham MARAC meets on a monthly basis and is chaired by the Barking and Dagenham Detective Inspector of the Metropolitan Police Community Safety Unit; a unit of specially trained officers whose task is to investigate crimes including domestic violence. 

Key contributors to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham MARAC include the Local Authority, Metropolitan Police Barking & Dagenham, NELFT, NHS B&D, BHRT, Probation, Victim Support, Refuge and the Domestic Violence Advocacy Service.  These agencies assist in the contribution in the reporting of National Indicator 32; reporting on repeat incidents of domestic violence.

The MARAC initiative has been endorsed by the Home Office as good practice, and MARACs are being set up nationally to implement multi agency action planning, risk assessment and safety planning around very high risk victims of domestic violence. The overarching aims are to reduce domestic violence repeat victimisation and prevent domestic violence homicide as far as possible.

The aims of MARAC are:

• To provide and share intelligence and information on individuals subject to MARAC (victims, children and perpetrators) to increase the safety, health and well being of victims (adult and children).
• To determine whether the perpetrator poses a significant risk to any particular individual or to the general community.
• To construct jointly and implement a risk management plan that provides professional support to all those at risk and that reduces the risk of harm.
• To reduce repeat victimisation.
• To improve agency accountability.
• Improve support for staff involved in high risk domestic violence cases.

The responsibility to take appropriate actions rest with individual agencies; it is not transferred to the MARAC.  The role of the MARAC is to facilitate, monitor and evaluate effective information sharing to enable appropriate actions to be taken to increase individual and public safety.

MARAC guidance allows agencies to share and disclose information with the MARAC where consent has or has not been obtained from individuals subject to the MARAC (victim, children and perpetrator) under the Data Protection Act, the Human Rights Act, Common Law duty of confidence and the Caldicott Guidlelines.

Information that has been agreed as appropriate for Probation to share includes:

• Previous history of convictions
• Update on attendance at IDAP and supervision
• Breaches of orders
• Update from the women’s safety officer
• Prison information such as recalls and release dates where possible
• Commitment from WSO to attend welfare visits with IDVA and/or
• MARAC case representative where appropriate
• Occurrence mark probation system for all MARAC cases
• Advise on name of supervising officer, officer's location, details of order and date sentence

Coordinated Action against Domestic Violence (CAADA), a charity established to encourage the use of independent advocacy as a way to increase the safety of survivors, was commissioned by the Home Office to implement a three stage MARAC training programme to MARAC teams nationally in England and Wales to ensure MARAC objectives are met via information sharing and multi agency risk assessment action planning through minimum standards in national service provision and delivery.

CAADA delivered the MARAC three stage training programme to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham MARAC team during 2008 and 2009.

For further information on the MARAC please contact the borough MARAC Coordinator

Caroline Porter
Borough MARAC Coordinator
020 8227 2133 or caroline.porter@lbbd.gov.uk