Written Question · S5W-22163 · Session 5
For what reason its publication, Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland, does not provide information on t…
The question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its publication, Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland, does not provide information on the (a) type of hate crime or aggravator disaggregated by local authority, (b) characteristics of people involved in the incident or reporting and (c) number of hate incidents that were reported but did not constitute a criminal offence.
The answer
Statistical and social research publications typically provide a summary of the information available, and as outlined in the report ‘Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland’, further information may be available on request.
We are able to provide a local authority disaggregation of the information made available in the report on police recorded hate crime by (a) aggravator and (b) type of crime, for 2014-15 to 2017-18. As this information requires 64 tables to produce, a copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 60542).
The report also outlined that further information on the nature of each hate crime the police deal with is recorded in Police Scotland's Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IVPD). This includes the characteristics of those involved and information on hate incidents that were reported to the police but did not constitute a criminal offence.
Prior to any dissemination of a wider range of data collected within the IVPD (e.g. characteristics of those involved), Police Scotland have been reviewing the process used by officers to enter this information into the database. This is with the aim of ensuring that should more detailed analysis on the nature of hate crime be regularly drawn from the IVPD, users can be assured of its quality.
Scottish Government statisticians will continue to engage with Police Scotland as they take this work forward, and will inform users through the SCOTSTAT network [1] of any new developments regarding the availability of hate crime information.
I have raised this issue directly with the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
[1] Network for users and providers of Scottish Official Statistics ( https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/scotstat )
We are able to provide a local authority disaggregation of the information made available in the report on police recorded hate crime by (a) aggravator and (b) type of crime, for 2014-15 to 2017-18. As this information requires 64 tables to produce, a copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 60542).
The report also outlined that further information on the nature of each hate crime the police deal with is recorded in Police Scotland's Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IVPD). This includes the characteristics of those involved and information on hate incidents that were reported to the police but did not constitute a criminal offence.
Prior to any dissemination of a wider range of data collected within the IVPD (e.g. characteristics of those involved), Police Scotland have been reviewing the process used by officers to enter this information into the database. This is with the aim of ensuring that should more detailed analysis on the nature of hate crime be regularly drawn from the IVPD, users can be assured of its quality.
Scottish Government statisticians will continue to engage with Police Scotland as they take this work forward, and will inform users through the SCOTSTAT network [1] of any new developments regarding the availability of hate crime information.
I have raised this issue directly with the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
[1] Network for users and providers of Scottish Official Statistics ( https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/scotstat )
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S5W-22163 by reference.