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Chamber and committees

Question reference: S6W-33307

  • Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: 16 January 2025
  • Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 January 2025

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many children and young people have been reported to (a) the police, (b) social work services and (c) education support services for carrying a knife or weapon in school since 1999.


Answer

In terms of part (a), statistics on police recorded crimes of weapon possession within a school are available in the following table. Information is available from 2017-18 onwards, the first year that data was collected separately for school settings. The fall in 2020-21 will reflect the closure of schools due to the Covid pandemic. Information is not held centrally on the age of the perpetrator, so whilst it is likely the majority of these crimes in a school involve a child or young person, it is not necessarily the case for every incident.

 

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

Possession of an offensive weapon in a school – not used

33

36

34

18

28

35

42

Having in a school an article with a blade or point – not used

128

91

112

56

98

112

94

Possession of an offensive weapon in a school - used

32

38

40

27

65

69

60

Having in a school an article with a blade or point - used

29

34

21

9

37

27

35

Total

222

199

207

110

228

243

231

Source: Recorded Crime Accredited Official Statistics, 2023-24

In terms of parts (b) and (c), the information requested is not held centrally.