Crime Clear up Rates
type: Dataset
conforms to: http://mlcommons.org/croissant/1.0
contact point: ContactPoint
date modified: 2026-08-13T15:39:52.784232
date published: 2026-08-13T15:38:50.518641
description: Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland, including clear up rates recorded by Police Scotland. This data covers the percentage of recorded crimes and offences that were cleared up by the police in Scotland between 1996/97 to 2025/26 and by Local Authority. Crimes cleared up by the police as a percentage of crimes recorded. For more information on recorded crime figures see the [Scottish Government Recorded Crime in Scotland website](https://www.gov.scot/collections/recorded-crime-in-scotland/). The definition of 'cleared up' is noted below. This definition came into force with effect from 1 April 1996. A crime or offence is regarded as cleared up where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law, to justify consideration of criminal proceedings. Clear up rates are calculated as follows: (number of recorded crimes cleared up in year y / total number of recorded crimes in year y) x 100. Crimes or offences recorded by the police as cleared up in one financial year, year y, may have been committed and therefore recorded in a previous year, i.e. year y-1. This means that the number of crimes and offences cleared up are being expressed as a percentage of a different set of crimes or offences. This means that clear up rates in excess of 100% can arise in a given year. The statistical return from which the data are taken is a simple count of the numbers of crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the police. Returns are submitted quarterly from Police Scotland at local authority level which allows a national total to be obtained. Crimes and offences are included against the year in which they are recorded by the police. This is not necessarily the year in which the crime or offence took place, the year in which the accused is brought to trial for the crime or offence, or the year in which the case is finally disposed of by the courts. Amendments (such as the deletion of incidents found on investigation not to be criminal) which …
accuracy: A quality assurance process is in operation which includes automated validation procedures and manual checks for significant changes in the data and unrealistic values. Any questionable values are referred back to Police Scotland for either correction or for an explanation to be provided for any unusual values. Police Scotland are required to sign-off their data at the end of the validation process. Bulletins are subjected to a secondary level of checking by statisticians who have not been involved in the production process.
comment: Crimes cleared up by the police as a percentage of those recorded.
completeness: Information is presented at a national (Scotland) level, with core tables provided at Local Authority level. Where blanks exist, the clear up rate was incalculable due to no crimes being recorded.
confidentiality: This dataset does not contain any sensitive or personal information. Results are published on an aggregated level.
consistency: The reporting year was changed from calendar to financial year, with the last reported calendar year being 1994 and the first reported financial year being 1995-96. Information is electronically available via the Scottish Government's website dating back to 1988. Long term, as well as short term, comparability of some crime groups over time will be affected due to changes in legislation. An example of this is the introduction of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, which came into force on 1 December 2010. Further details regarding this can be found in the [Recorded Crime Statistics in Scotland: user guide](https://www.gov.scot/collections/recorded-crime-in-scotland/#supportingdocuments). Recorded crime statistics for England and Wales are not directly comparable with those in Scotland. The recorded crime statistics for Scotland are collected on the basis of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard (SCRS), which was introduced in 2004. In England and Wales the recording of crime statistics are based up on the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) and Home Office Counting Rules for recorded crime. Like its counterpart in England and Wales, the SCRS aims to give consistency in crime recording. The main principles of the SCRS itself are similar to the NCRS for England and Wales with regard to when a crime should be recorded. However there are various differences between the respective Counting Rules in that they specify different approaches for counting the number of crimes that should be recorded as a result of a single incident. For example, crimes recorded in England and Wales tend to be incident based where the Principle Crime Rule states that if the sequence of crimes in an incident, or a complex crime, contains more than one type of crime, then the most serious crime should be counted. For example, an incident where an intruder breaks into a home and assaults the sole occupant would be recorded as two crimes in Scotland, while in England and Wales it would be…
geographical coverage: S12
geographical coverage: S92
license id: uk-ogl
next update: 2027-06-01
quality management: Figures are checked against previous years and comparable sources. Anything unusual or which requires further explanation is fed back to Police Scotland for their attention. Any amendments are carried out and the final data is used to produce a set of data tables which can be used to check the final dataset. During the quality assurance checking process, it is possible for errors to be found in data for previous years. Whilst figures are not routinely revised, any changes or corrections made to previously published data are suitably explained in line with the [Scottish Government's guidance on Producing Official Statistics](https://www.gov.scot/publications/producing-official-statistics/pages/revisions-and-corrections/). Care is taken when processing, quality assuring and analysing the data, however this is occasionally subject to the inaccuracies that are inherent in any large administrative recording system. Further details of the quality assurance process can be found in the [Recorded Crime Statistics in Scotland: user guide](https://www.gov.scot/collections/recorded-crime-in-scotland/#supportingdocuments).
reference period: PeriodOfTime
  end date: 2026
  start date: 1996
timeliness: This data covers incidents recorded over 12 months between 1 April to 31 March, from 1996/97 to 2025/26. The statistical bulletin is published approximately three months after the end of the year in question. This is to allow Police Scotland's statisticians to collate the required information, as well as the time needed to allow for quality checking the data. The publication date is advertised four to six weeks in advance on the Scottish Government website [Official Statistics: forthcoming publication calendar](https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/).
uniqueness: Not assessed
update frequency: annual
validity: Primary source of detailed and reliable information on recorded crimes and offences in Scotland. Statistics on recorded crime and offences inform the Scottish Government's [Vision for Justice in Scotland](https://www.gov.scot/publications/vision-justice-scotland/). This was published in February 2022 and sets out a transformative vision for the whole justice system in Scotland. The 2022 strategy outlines how the Scottish Government will transform the justice system, through recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Further information on users and uses of the statistics is provided in the [Recorded Crime Statistics in Scotland: user guide](https://www.gov.scot/collections/recorded-crime-in-scotland/#supportingdocuments).
will be updated: true
included in data catalog: CKAN
keywords: Crime and Justice
license: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
record set: records

Scottish Government
type: Organization
contact point: ContactPoint
  contact type: customer service

DateCode
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data type: Text
source:
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crime-clear-up-rates.csv
type: FileObject
description: Data file for Crime Clear up Rates
comment: Crimes cleared up by the police as a percentage of those recorded.
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encoding format: CSV

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GeographyCode
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Units
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Measurement
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Value
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GeographyName
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GeographyType
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