The government is failing on its pre-election pledge to be tough on crime and its causes, a survey in Scotland has suggested.

The findings are part of a poll for the BBC published on its UK-wide Crime Day.

A large majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters believe the coalition is not delivering, the survey says.

In the run-up to the general election in 1997 and the Scottish Parliament election in 1999, Labour pledged to be hard on crime and its underlying factors.

Devolved responsibility

After the 1999 election, responsibility for law and order was devolved to the coalition government in Scotland created by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

In the BBC survey, people were asked if they believed Labour had fulfilled its pledge to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime". The same question was asked throughout the UK.

Of those who responded in Scotland, 74% said no. The large majority of these people were Tory voters (91%) but many Labour (65%) and Lib Dem supporters (69%) agreed.

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BBC Scotland's home affairs correspondent Reevel Alderson notes that crime rates are actually coming down.

Justice Minister Jim Wallace insists there are more police than ever before but police unions say Scotland is lagging behind England.

Numbers here have risen by one per cent in five years, compared to three point one per cent south of the Border in the last 12 months, our correspondent says.

Other findings from the survey:

Attitudes towards the police

• Nearly four out of five respondents (76%) said they were not confident the police would catch a burglar or car thief and 61% said the same thing about a mugger

• The police were not thought to be to blame for this lack of confidence: 36% said they had too few resources to catch a mugger and 19% said they spent too much time on paperwork

• People's top choice to make them feel safer in public was more police on the streets with more CCTV cameras second on their list.

Street crime

• Nearly a third (30%) of people who have children between the ages of 10 and 16 said they were too worried to let them go out after dark

• 54% of those surveyed said they thought street crime had increased in the past six months. The government has subsequently issued interim figures claiming it is beginning to get street crime under control.

Drugs

• People remain confused about the legal situation regarding cannabis. Only 16% of people now know that smoking the drug is illegal with just 9% of 14-20 year-olds aware

• 45% of respondents thought there would be no change to crime because of the government's current actions on cannabis.

Juries and sentencing

• 62% of those who took part thought prisoners should always serve the full sentence set by the judge. Only six per cent thought that all prisoners should be eligible for early release for good behaviour while in jail

• More than three-quarters (77%) thought juries should know about an accused's previous criminal record before they considered their verdict. Only 21% said they would give their verdict based on the evidence given at the trial alone.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 625 adults in Scotland aged over 18 by telephone between 9-12 September.

Interviews were conducted throughout Scotland and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.