Recorded Crime in Scotland: September 2020

Annex 1: Background

As outlined on page one, these monthly Official Statistics have been introduced to inform users about the volume and type of crimes and offences recorded in Scotland during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Their role is to provide more recent information on this topic - in a product that has been produced by Scottish Government statisticians, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

We originally planned to ask the Scottish Crime Recording Board (which oversees the production of Official Statistics on recorded crime in Scotland) to review in the autumn whether this monthly process should continue, including user feedback on the value of these statistics. However at this stage, given the increasing levels of the virus in Scotland, no changes are planned in the short term. As such, we will continue to publish these Official Statistics on a monthly basis and will consult with users when the above review takes place.

The annual Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin remains the primary source of information on crimes and offences recorded by the police, and has been designated as National Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation. The most recent update, covering the 2019-20 reporting year, was published on 29th September. Users should refer to the National Statistics for more detailed information on the production of the recorded crime statistics - including governance arrangements, a description of their quality, background methodologies and changes to recording practice.