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Publication - Research and analysis

Public attitudes to coronavirus: May summary

Published
12 June 2020
Directorate
Constitution Directorate
Part of
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland
ISBN
9781839608308

This report includes some high level findings from recent polling work on public attitudes to the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland. A report covering earlier survey work was published on 8 May 2020.

This document is part of a collection

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5. Views on government and information sources

Rating of government

Respondents were asked how good or poor a job various institutions were doing to contain the spread of the virus. Figure 16 below shows that respondents have been consistent in their high rating of the NHS. Scottish respondents continue to rate the Scottish Government more highly than the UK Government, with the rating of the latter falling towards from the middle of the month.

Figure 16: Proportion who rate each as doing a good/very good job to contain the spread of Coronavirus
This graph shows the proportion of respondents who rated the NHS, the Scottish Government and the UK Government as doing a good or very good job, at five time points: April 23-26, May 1-3, May 8-11, May 15-18 and May 22-25. The majority of respondents rated the NHS and the Scottish Government as doing a good or very good job at each time point. The proportion who said the NHS were doing a good or very good job was highest; ranging from 85% to 89% across the time points and 86% at the most recent time point. Between 80% and 81% of respondents rated the Scottish Government as doing a good or very good job across the time points. The proportion who rated the UK Government as doing a good or very good job was lower, and fell from 54% at the first time point to 41% at the most recent time point.

Source: Ipsos MORI, Scotland data. Scottish base (n=500-684)

Trust in Scottish Government

Respondents were asked to what extent they trust the Scottish Government to work in Scotland's best interests during the Coronavirus pandemic. The vast majority have either 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' of trust in Scottish Government. The proportion who have 'a great deal' of trust increased across the three survey waves.

Figure 17. Whether respondents trust Scottish Government to work in Scotland's best interests during the Coronavirus pandemic
This chart shows the proportion of respondents who trust the Scottish Government to work in Scotland’s best interests during the Coronavirus pandemic, at three time points: May 8-11, May 15-18 and May 22-25. Between 73% and 77% trust the Scottish Government ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ across the time points, with 77% saying this at the most recent time point.

Source: Ipsos MORI, Scotland data. Scottish base (n=500)

Trust in Scottish Government advice and guidance

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that they trust the advice from Scottish Government and trust the Scottish Government to decide when to lift restrictions. The majority agreed with both of these statements and this has remained relatively stable in recent weeks.

Figure 18: Proportions who agreed/strongly agreed with the two statements shown
This graph shows the proportion of respondents who agreed or agreed strongly with two statements shown at five time points: April 28-29, May 5-6, May 12-13, May 19-20 and May 26-27. The first statement is ‘I trust the advice and guidance from the Scottish Government to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives’ and the second is ‘I trust the Scottish Government to decide when and how to lift restrictions’. The majority of respondents agreed overall with both of these statements. Between 79% and 82% agreed with the first statement, with 81% agreeing at the most recent time point. Between 69% and 72% agreed with the second statement, with 72% agreeing at the most recent time point.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1004-1037)

Sources of information

Respondents were shown a list of information sources (see figure 19) and asked which they use regularly i.e. at least three times a week. The most commonly used sources were the First Minister's daily briefing and BBC TV News.

Figure 19: Proportion using each information source regularly to access information on coronavirus
This chart shows the proportion of respondent using a range of information sources regularly to access information about coronavirus, at four time points: May 5-6, May 12-13, May 19-20 and May 26-27. The proportion who using each information source has remained stable across the time points. The most common information source is the First Minister’s daily briefing, with 51% reporting using this information source regularly at the most recent time point.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1004-1037)

Contact

Email: covid-19.behaviours@gov.scot

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