Recorded crime in Scotland statistics: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
An age breakdown for the figures presented within Table A9 of the Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2023-24 Accredited Official Statistics for the years 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24.
Specifically, age breakdowns showing how many children of various age groups (under 16 and 16-18) were recorded as having committed EACH of the crimes in the table in EACH of the last four years (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24).
Response
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.
The data we receive from Police Scotland regarding Recorded Crime in Scotland is aggregate data and is a basic count of recorded crimes. This does not include any additional information about the crime, or any characteristics of the victim or perpetrator. However, our publication on Drug Seizures and Offender Characteristics contains data relating to both drug supply and drug possession crimes. We receive data on supply crimes directly from Police Scotland, however this only relates to the type of drug and their classification including the quantity that was seized. The data we hold on possession crimes is based on a sample of 400 possession crimes (per year) stratified by division. As well as using the sample to record information on the drugs seized from crimes of possession, information about the offender and the circumstances of the crime has also been recorded. Therefore we can provide an estimate based on the information collected for the sampled crimes. Our most recent Drug Seizures and Offender Characteristics publication covers 2020-21 and 2021-22. We do not hold data for 2022-23 and 2023-24.
An estimate of the age breakdown for perpetrators of drug possession crimes for 2020-21 and 2021- 22 is provided in the attached table.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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