Parliament Workbench
Data: Motions & questions to 19 Nov 2026

Written Question · S6W-08055 · Session 6

What information it has on the level of elder abuse in each of the last five years.

Answered Asked by Jackie Baillie Lab Lodged 11 Apr 2022

The question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the level of elder abuse in each of the last five years.

The answer

Answered by Keith Brown on 10 May 2022 · 29 days after it was lodged, on time

Whilst there is no legal definition of elder abuse, the World Health Organisation has defined it as ‘a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person' ( Elder abuse (who.int) ). They note this can cover several types of violence, including but not limited to physical, sexual, psychological and financial abuse or neglect.
In general the Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on levels of elder abuse, as the Official Statistics on police recorded crime and criminal proceedings do not include details on whether the victim was an older person, or their relationship to the perpetrator. Police Scotland are in the process of introducing a new system to record crime, which once fully operational may allow for more detailed analysis within Scotland’s recorded crime statistics (including victim age for each type of crime committed). Going forward, statisticians will keep users of crime statistics informed of developments, as the new system rolls out during 2022 and 2023.
Some information on the age of victims and their relationship to perpetrators is available from topic based Official Statistics, including for example police recorded Domestic Abuse and Homicide. In 2020-21, victims of domestic abuse aged 60 and over had a rate of 12 incidents per 10,000 population (compared to 119 incidents for all ages). This has remained broadly stable over the past five years. Between 2016-17 and 2020-21 there were 36 victims of homicide in Scotland aged 60 or over. Of these, over two-thirds (69% or 25 victims) were known to the perpetrator (including partners or ex-partners, relatives and acquaintances). Furthermore the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) can provide estimates of some measures by age, however this only covers adults living in private households and excludes other settings such as care homes. In 2019/20, 6.9% of those aged 60 and over experienced crime in Scotland (including those not reported to the police), compared to 11.9% for all aged 16 plus. The victimisation rate for those aged over 60 has shown no change since 2014/15.
Some data is also available from the Care Inspectorate, which operates a complaints procedure for registered care services. For example in 2019/20 there were 35 upheld complaints about protection of people in care homes for older people. Further information on this process is provided in Care Inspectorate reports Complaints Annual Report 2019-20 final 12012021 (1).pdf (careinspectorate.com) and their published board papers (June 2021) Board_1706202_Final_Published.pdf (careinspectorate.com) .

In the Official Report

No contribution in the Official Report cites S6W-08055 by reference.