How is the SNP tackling youth offending & antisocial behaviour?

The SNP is serious about antisocial behaviour, and is investing in early intervention, youth work, safe spaces and whole-family support, which is key to tackling and preventing youth violence.

As the Scottish Government the SNP hosted a youth violence summit in June 2025. Following the summit, one of the additional actions that is being taken is the delivery of education roadshows on violence and weapons prevention, in targeted areas where levels of violence are high.

The SNP government has invested £6 million in the implementation of the violence prevention framework over the past three years. In 2025, that includes up to £1.2 million for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and nearly £300,000 for the delivery of YouthLink Scotland’s No Knives, Better Lives programme.

The quit fighting for likes campaign, which was developed by violence reduction partner organisations, provides practitioners with resources to have conversations with young people and get them thinking about and discussing the impact of filming and sharing violent incidents.

Last September, the campaign attracted an average of 80,000 impressions a day through its four-week run, and 6,000 visitors accessed further information.

The Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities programme uses money recovered from seized criminal assets to provide crucial support to young people who may be at risk of becoming involved in offending or antisocial behaviour.

The programme delivered £6.2 million funding to support over 15,000 young people during 2024–25, and since 2008 CashBack for Communities has invested £156 million and supported around 1.4 million young people across all 32 local authorities in Scotland.