The Scottish Government recognises the strong relationship between deprivation and crime. Our document “The Vision for Justice in Scotland” and our tackling child poverty delivery plan recognise the need to work together to mitigate the impact of poverty and to reduce the number of people who have contact with the justice system.

Tackling poverty lies at the heart of what we do as a Government, and it is discussed regularly by ministerial colleagues. We are allocating almost £3 billion in 2023-24 to support policies that tackle poverty and to protect people as far as possible during the on-going cost crisis.