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Publication - Statistics

Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: July 2025

Published
31 July 2025
From
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, +4 more … Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Lord Advocate, Chief Statistician, Neil Rennick
Directorate
Safer Communities Directorate, +2 more … Justice Directorate, Children and Families Directorate
Topic
Communities and third sector, Law and order, Public safety and emergencies

This report contains summary statistics covering a number of important justice and safer communities areas. It is updated with the most recently published statistics.

Part of

Supporting documents

Public perception of local crime rate at a similar level to 2008-09. The SCJS found that over two-thirds (71%) of adults in 2023-24 said that the crime rate in their local area had decreased or stayed the same over the last couple of years. This figure has fallen from 76% in 2021-22 and is at a similar level to 2008/09 and the pre-covid position in 2019-20.

Most adults feel safe walking alone after dark. The SCJS found that three-quarters (75%) of adults said that they felt very or fairly safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark in 2023-24. This is an increase from 66% in 2008-09 but has been stable since 2016-17.

Less than half of adults say police are doing a good or excellent job. The SCJS reported that, in 2023-24, 45% of adults said that the police in their local area were doing a good or excellent job, down from 49% in 2021-22 and 61% in 2012-13.

Fall in emergency hospital admissions due to assault since 2014-15. In 2023-24, there were 1,691 emergency hospital admissions due to assault, including 438 due to assault with a sharp object. These were, respectively, 33% and 18% lower than in 2014-15.

Number of fires fell 10% in the last year. In 2023-24, there were 24,060 fires in Scotland, down 10% on 2022-23 and the lowest in the last ten years. There were 42 fire fatalities in 2023-24, down from 43 in 2022-23 and around the average for the last decade.

Chart 7: Number of fatal fire casualties – 2014-15 to 2023-24

Chart 7 - Fatal fire casualties, 2014-15 to 2023-24 Annual number of fatal casualties in fires in Scotland, as reported by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, 2014-15 to 2023-24. This ranges between 27 and 52 fire fatalities over the decade.

* New * Number of deliberate fires has increased over the last year. There were 226 deliberate building fires in 2024-25 Q4, up from 197 in 2023-24 Q4. There were 185 deliberate road vehicle fires in 2024-25 Q4, up from 153 in 2023-24 Q4.

Chart 8: Deliberate building and road vehicle fires, 2013-14 Q3 to 2024-25 Q4

Chart 8 - Deliberate building and road vehicle fires, quarter 3 of 2013-14 onwards. Four quarter average number of deliberate building fires and road vehicle fires for each quarter from quarter 3 of 2013-14 onwards. There has been a decline in building fires over this period and road vehicle fires are below 200 from 2022-23.

Note: The figures used in this chart are the average of the quarter in question and the three quarters prior, in order to allow for seasonal variation.

* New * Unwanted fire alarm signals made up 18% of incidents in the fourth quarter of 2024-25. Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) describe avoidable false alarm signals from a workplace, either from an automatic fire alarm or from a person. There were 2,758 UFAS incidents in 2024-25 Q4, which makes up 15.1% of all incidents attended in Q4. This is down from the previous year when UFAS made up 18.3% of all incidents attended in 2023-24 Q4. SFRS introduced a new policy in July 2023 which outlined a change in how automatic fire alarm call outs are managed and led to a decrease in the number of UFAS incidents attended.

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