On 20 June 2023 the Scottish Government’s Recorded Crime in Scotland 2022-2023 figures were published. Since last year, crimes recorded by the police in Scotland increased by 1%, with the recording of crime remaining at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974. Non-sexual crimes of violence decreased by 1%; crimes of dishonesty increased by 11%; and sexual crimes decreased by 3%. However, recorded sexual crime has increased by 70% over the past 10 years.

On 12 May 2023 the Stage 1 report on the Children (Care and Justice) Scotland Bill was published. There was broad agreement from the majority of stakeholders that the age at which a young person can be referred to the Children’s Hearing System (CHS) should be raised to18 and that no child (defined as someone under the age of 18) should ever be held in a prison/YOI. There was much discussion about the financial implications of this and the need to address corresponding resource concerns.