Mr MacAskill wants to promote positive behaviour

The number of recorded crimes in Scotland rose from 417,785 in 2005-06 to 419,257 in the last 12 months.

Mr MacAskill said the statistics showed levels of the most serious crimes had "barely changed" in 10 years.

Violent crime and crimes of indecency both rose by 3%, while cases of rape and attempted rape fell by the same percentage, to 1,123 last year.

The number of murders, attempted murders and serious assaults rose by 5% to 7,504 in 2006-07.

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said the figures showed that the previous Labour/Liberal Democrat administration had "failed miserably" in cutting crime.

It is hardly surprising that the public has lost faith in the Scottish justice system Bill Aitken Tory justice spokesman

Labour, meanwhile, said more acts such as vandalism and driving offences were being included because of the way they were recorded, but admitted that the rise in violent crime was troubling.

Police forces, Mr MacAskill said, were dealing with a greater volume of crimes involving serious assault, handling offensive weapons and drugs than in 1997-98.

"Scotland's government is determined to turn the figures around - taking action for the long-term, on many fronts and beginning with the next generation of adults," he said.

Political will

"In many of our communities, families are crying out for action to rid their streets of weapons."

The justice secretary said the Scottish Government would work to free communities from the "scourge of airguns", adding that there would be "no let-up" in the war against knife culture.

"If we're to bring about long-term solutions, action against crime and anti-social behaviour to build safe communities must be matched by work to promote positive behaviour that builds strong communities," Mr MacAskill said.

The early release of prisoners and talk of six month sentences being served in the community is not sending a message to the Scottish public that the new government is on their side Margaret Curran Labour justice spokeswoman

"In that way we can offer hope over fear to those communities who have suffered from crime and lawlessness for too many years."

Mr Aitken said the minority SNP administration must find a "new political will" if it wanted Tory backing for justice policies.

"This was the final report card of the Lib-Lab Pact's eight years in power and these figures show it failed miserably in cutting crime," he said.

"With only one out of four crimes reported to the police, and only about 10% of crimes recorded actually resulting in a conviction, it is hardly surprising that the public has lost faith in the Scottish justice system."

'Cut reoffending'

Labour justice spokeswoman Margaret Curran said: "The justice secretary must take forward Labour's tough stance on tackling crime.

"The early release of prisoners and talk of six month sentences being served in the community is not sending a message to the Scottish public that the new government is on their side."

Margaret Smith, the Lib Dem justice spokeswoman, said cutting reoffending was a key objective for ministers.

"We need a sentencing policy that is better targeted on changing the behaviour of offenders and tackling the underlying issues behind offending," she said.

"I intend to keep up the pressure to replace very short term prison sentences with tougher community sentences that make offenders work to repay their crimes, while at the same time making sure that violent criminals are in jail where they should be."

The Scottish Government figures also revealed that the clear-up rate for all crimes reached a record high of 47% in 2006-07 and there was a 16% drop in fraud, partly put down to the introduction of the chip and pin system.