Racist Incidents Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2013-14

Annex 7: Future Considerations

6.58. Justice Analytical Services publishes a work plan each year detailing the programme of work planned over the current financial year period. The work of the division covers both an agreed forward programme of analytical priorities, and routine analytical work particularly related to the compilation of National and Official Statistics, ongoing project management and knowledge transfer activity.

Analytical planning to develop a programme for the financial year 2015-16 followed a structured process of engagement with policy colleagues which was designed to closely align our analysis with current policy priorities and to the delivery of outcomes. The work plan is available via the following link: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/JASAP11-12.

6.59. As highlighted in the work plan, Justice Analytical Services are scoping out the possibility and benefits of a more detailed statistical collection on Hate Crime to replace this 'Racist Incidents Recorded in Scotland' publication. There is user interest in information on other strands of hate crime and a need to balance this interest against the resources required to produce new statistics.

Given the above, we will scope out the possibility of replacing the 'Racist Incidents Recorded by the police in Scotland' publication with a new and broader statistical product on police recorded Hate Crime (which would include a race element). We will work with Police Scotland as they develop the Hate Crime data they hold on their existing systems and will inform users as this work develops.

This exercise shares some similarities with developments in England and Wales - where the Home Office recently published their first statistics on Hate Crime recorded by the police, prior to which they only produced figures on racist incidents.

6.60. We are always keen to hear users' views on our products. If you have any comments or suggestions on this or future publications, please contact us at justiceanalysts@gov.scot.