Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: November 2025
This report contains summary statistics covering a number of important justice and safer communities areas. It is updated with the most recently published statistics.
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.
*New* Fall in emergency hospital admissions due to assault since 2015-16. In 2024-25, there were 1,554 emergency hospital admissions due to assault, including 376 due to assault with a sharp object. These were, respectively, 36% and 33% lower than in 2015-16.
*New* Number of fires fell 5% in the last year. In 2024-25, there were 22,925 fires in Scotland, down 5% on 2023-24 and the lowest in the last ten years. There were 36 fire fatalities in 2024-25, down from 42 in 2023-24 and the second lowest in the last decade.
Chart 7: Number of fatal fire casualties – 2015-16 to 2024-25
The number of deliberate building fires has fallen over the last year while the number of deliberate road vehicle fires increased over the same period. There were 290 deliberate building fires in 2025-26 Q1, down from 302 in 2024-25 Q1. There were 229 deliberate road vehicle fires in 2025-26 Q1, up from 170 in 2024-25 Q1.
Chart 8: Deliberate building and road vehicle fires, 2013-14 Q3 to 2025-26 Q1
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.
Unwanted fire alarm signals made up 12% of incidents in the first quarter of 2025-26. 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 2,737 UFAS incidents in 2025-26 Q1, which makes up 11.7% of all incidents attended in Q1. This is down from the previous year when UFAS made up 16.0% of all incidents attended in 2024-25 Q1. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (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.