Violence Reduction

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 20 September 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Michelle Ballantyne Michelle Ballantyne Conservative

I accept that point, but there is concern when the figures suddenly start to rise again, and we need to look at that. I accept and do not dispute that the overall trend is down.

Some progress has been made this year in the Scottish Borders. The Conservative and independent led council is using its budget to support a community action policing team, which is having positive effects. However, I question whether it is right that our local councils are contributing to policing on our streets; we may need to think about that.

I hope that the Deputy Presiding Officer will forgive me for mentioning that she was quoted in a recent issue of the

Midlothian Advertiser as saying that

“crime is at its lowest in ... forty years”,

—which is quite correct—and claiming that that

“proves that the SNP’s approach to issues such as knife crime is paying dividends for our communities.”

That is, nationally, quite correct.

Unfortunately, in Midlothian, overall crime has risen by 12 per cent, which is one of the biggest rises in crime in a local authority area in Scotland. The local area commander, Chief Inspector Kenny Simpson, regularly raises the subject of antisocial behaviour in the newspaper. He felt compelled to write an article which had the headline “Number of youths armed with weapons is cause for concern”, in which he referenced a recent spike in vandalism. I caution that national figures can sometimes hide local issues. In welcoming improvements, we must also be willing to acknowledge what we still need to tackle.

There are still issues that concern me and members of the public. We have visited some of those debates here, including on the soft-touch approach, on early release dates for offenders and on there being fewer front-line officers. Overall, I congratulate everyone who has contributed to the positive national trend, but there is still work to do.