Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: June 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.


* New * 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.

* New * 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.

* New * 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.

Number of deliberate fires has decreased. There were 223 deliberate building fires in 2024-25 Q3, down from 258 in 2023-24 Q3. There were 194 deliberate road vehicle fires in 2024-25 Q3, up from 161 in 2023-24 Q3.

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

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.

Unwanted fire alarm signals made up 17% of incidents in the third 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 3,140 UFAS incidents in 2024-25 Q3, which makes up 16.9% of all incidents attended in Q3. This is down from the previous year when UFAS made up 18.3% of all incidents attended in 2023-24 Q3. 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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