Number of convictions in Scotland relating to offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988: FOI release

Information requested

The number of convictions in Scotland for the past 5 years (20/05/2021 to 20/05/2026) relating to the following offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988:

• Section 143 – using a motor vehicle without insurance, including causing or permitting such use.
• Section 87 – driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, including causing or permitting.
• Section 40A – using a vehicle in a dangerous condition (including defects, loading, or passenger issues), including causing or permitting.
• Section 22 – leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position, including causing or permitting.
• Section 42 – construction and use offences, including causing or permitting.

Where available, please provide a breakdown between: (a) the principal offence (use/driving), and (b) “causing or permitting” offences. If such a breakdown is not available, please provide the total number of convictions for each section.

Please provide the information in the format it is held, including by offence code where applicable.

Response

The Scottish Government publishes data on people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish courts as Criminal proceedings: statistics - gov.scot. Data are published annually and the most recent publication covering the ten year period from 2014-15 to 2023-24 can be found here: Criminal Proceedings in Scotland: 2023-2024 - gov.scot . This data counts people by main charge, which is the offence that conferred the most severe penalty. You have asked for the number of convictions from the past 5 years and requested a specific date range. However, we can only provide data for complete financial years, with the most recent data being for 2023-24 financial year. Therefore the 5 most recent financial years data have been provided. The data held in Criminal Proceedings does not allow for a breakdown between (a) the principal offence (use/driving), and (b) “causing or permitting” offences, therefore the total number of convictions for each Section has been provided as per your request.

The data have been provided in the attached spreadsheet which contains the total number of convictions for each of the requested Sections. The spreadsheet also shows a breakdown of each of the Sections, broken down by Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) charge code, as you have requested the offence code where applicable. Details on COPFS charge codes can be found here: 16. Classification of crimes and offences - User Guide to Recorded Crime Statistics in Scotland - gov.scot. Please note that the Scottish Government can not provide detail/information beyond the charge code level, should more detail be required, this should be requested directly from COPFS via FOI@copfs.gov.uk.

Finally, data from 2020-21 onwards were affected by the pandemic, including: court closures, reduced court capacities due to physical distancing measures, delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate following positive COVID-19 tests and re-prioritisation of cases to deal with the resulting backlogs. Data from this period should not be considered indicative of long-term trends.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202600517818 - Information released - Annex

File type

Excel document

File size

15.6 kB