Kirkton riots: Numbers show a Dundee community torn in two

By Lesley-Anne Kelly

November 2 2022, 5:57am

Police outside St Paul's RC Academy. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

This is Kirkton in Dundee.

An area with an approximate population of just under 6,000 people…

…and which on Halloween was the scene of a riot.

These three streets were the setting for most of the incidents.

What does data tell us about Kirkton and the factors that may have contributed to the scenes that unfolded?

Every four years the Scottish Government publishes data on what they call the multiple indices of deprivation.

It looks at a variety of factors including income, employment rates, access to services and health and breaks down the data to small neighbourhood-sized areas.

Whilst this is the most up to date data available, it is based on analysis from prior to the pandemic.

The neighbourhood in the centre of Kirkton was ranked in the 5% most deprived areas of Scotland in the latest report, which was released in 2020.

Not every area of Kirkton ranks so high. The darker the colour on this map, the higher the overall deprivation rank is.

With this area of Kirkton being one of the least deprived areas of the country.

Looking at which areas of Kirkton were ranked as more or less deprived between the 2016 report and the latest data shows a clear north/south divide.

The area on top has seen investment in new housing developed in the last few years.

Looking further into the data can tell us a bit more about the areas involved in the incidents.

Based on the latest data, 42% of residents in the central area are classed as income deprived…

…compared with only 5% a few streets over.

The employment rate in the Kirkton area shows similar disparities, with 27% of residents in the central area being classed as employment deprived, compared to 5% in the outer area.

Between 23% and 32% of people in these areas are being prescribed medication for anxiety, depression or psychosis.

In these dark blue areas, 11% of 16 to 19 year olds were not participating in education, employment or training.

In terms of housing, almost a fifth of residents in the centre of Kirkton would be classed as overcrowded.

And in terms of crime, east Kirkton had a much higher rate per capita than the rest of the area.

In 2019, the Scottish Government published a report ranking each area of Scotland in terms of their vulnerability to the impact of Brexit.

With central Kirkton ranking in the top 20%.

The data in this article all comes from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and the Brexit Vulnerability Index – both of which were compiled by the Scottish Government.