Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold information on complaints recorded by Police Scotland.

The number of complaints recorded by local authorities concerning antisocial behaviour is also not held by the Scottish Government.

Under section 1 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 local authorities and Police Scotland are under a legal duty to maintain a strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour in their area. This enables a partnership approach that can take account of emerging trends and comparators.

The Scottish Government commissioned an Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour which discussed this topic. Its report is available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/report-independent-working-group-antisocial-behaviour/pages/23/. The Group noted that attention must be focused on addressing the broader societal factors that contribute to antisocial behaviour across all age groups, such as poverty.

There is a known relationship between persistent non-attendance, exclusion and anti-social behaviour. That is why the Scottish Government is clear that good school attendance is vital for children and young people. Schools and local authorities must do all they can to ensure that children and young people are included, engaged and involved in their learning.

The national guidance on school attendance was updated in March and reaffirms the importance of engaging and supporting children, young people and their families to secure regular school attendance, and is clear that education authority attendance procedures must be underpinned by robust safeguarding and child protection procedures.

Our national guidance also recognises the importance of strong, trusting relationships between staff and children and young people, along with collaboration with local police and youth services, as appropriate, in reducing some forms of absence and helping to prevent children and young people from being at risk.

The Scottish Government’s assessment of changes in classroom behaviour since 2020 is primarily informed by the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR), which provides robust, nationally representative evidence on behaviour in Scottish schools.

BISSR is externally commissioned research and has been undertaken in five waves to date: 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2023. This programme of research provides the Scottish Government with a robust evidence base to understand changes in pupil behaviour and to inform the development of policy and practice.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on school exclusions due to weapon possession.

Statistics on the number of exclusions by the reason for exclusion are published in School exclusion statistics - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government recognise the particular concerns that the illegal use of quad bikes and off-road motorcycles can cause in rural areas, including road safety risks, damage to agricultural land and property, and disturbance to local communities.

All instances of illegal use should be reported to Police Scotland, which has responsibility for enforcing the law and taking action where appropriate. Reports can also be made anonymously to Crimestoppers Scotland.

The Government recognise that policing is an important part of tackling antisocial behaviour. To this end, the Strategic Police Priorities set out the importance of the police maintaining relationships and engaging with local communities. Under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland is under a duty to ensure that there are adequate arrangements in place for policing within each local authority area and is required to submit a local police plan to the local authority for its approval. The plan must set out the main priorities and objectives for policing the local authority area, based on intelligence and aligned with national Police Scotland strategic objectives.

The Chief Constable has previously set out her intention for community policing to be prioritised in Police Scotland and programmes such as Policing our communities are designed to help in this regard. The Scottish Government supports this through our funding settlement whilst respecting the operational independence of the Chief Constable and Police Scotland to best allocate this funding to support these priorities.

We are aware of collaborative approaches being adopted by a number of local authorities alongside Police Scotland to tackle antisocial behaviour in town centres. The Scottish Government supports local authorities and Police Scotland through record funding.

We seek to complement local action through a range of national programmes aimed at prevention and early intervention. For example, through our CashBack for Communities programme, we support diversionary activities and positive opportunities for young people who may be at risk of becoming involved in antisocial behaviour or offending.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on incidents recorded by Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on complaints recorded by Police Scotland.