Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2017: attitudes data

1. Trust in government

The Scottish Social Attitudes ( SSA) Survey 2017 asked participants questions about trust in government:

• Trust in government (Scottish and UK) to work in Scotland's best interests
• Trust in government (Scottish, UK and local) to make fair decisions
• How good government (Scottish, UK and local) is at listening before taking decisions

In this chapter we present headline findings at a glance, and highlight statistically significant differences in views between different groups in the population.

How much do you trust the government to work in Scotland's best interests?

In 2017, 61% of people said they trusted the Scottish Government 'just about always' or 'most of the time' to work in Scotland's best interests. This compared with 65% in 2016 ( Figure 1). 37% of people trusted the Scottish Government 'only some of the time' or 'almost never'.

The proportion of people who said they trusted the UK Government 'just about always' or 'most of the time' to work in Scotland's best interests was 20% in 2017. This compared with 25% in 2016 ( Figure 1). 78% of people trusted the UK Government 'only some of the time' or 'almost never'.

Since these questions were first asked in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, levels of trust in the Scottish Government to work in Scotland's best interests have been consistently higher than those in the UK Government. In 2017 there was a 41 percentage point gap between the proportion of people trusting the Scottish Government and the proportion of people trusting the UK Government to work in Scotland's best interests. The size of this gap is similar to that in 2016.

Figure 1 How much do you trust the Scottish and UK Governments to work in Scotland's best interests? (1999-2017, % trust 'just about always' / 'most of the time') ^[4][5]

Variations in attitudes between subgroups

Levels of trust in the Scottish and UK Governments to work in Scotland's best interests varied between a number of social groups, based on statistical significance, and are listed here. Variables with no statistically significant differences are listed in Annex A.

61% trusted the Scottish Government to work in Scotland's best interests 'just about always' or 'most of the time'. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[6] :

Trust in the Scottish Government to work in Scotland's best interests 'just about always' or 'most of the time'.

Subgroups	%
Political affiliation
SNP supporter	81
Other	51
Age
16-24	77
25-39	70
40-64	60
65+	46
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	64
'No interest at all' in politics	41
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	86
In work or waiting to take up work	65
Unemployed	53
Retired	50
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	66
Didn't feel close to a particular party	53
Educational Qualification
Degree or equivalent	76
No formal qualifications	56
National identity
More Scottish than British	66
Equally Scottish and British	48
More British than Scottish	56
Tenure
Home owners	60
Private renters	73
Social renters	55
Main Income Source
Wages or private income	64
State benefits	48
Sex
Female	56
Male	67

20% trusted the UK Government to work in Scotland's best interests 'just about always' or 'most of the time'. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[7] :

Trust in the UK Government to work in Scotland's best interests 'just about always' or 'most of the time'.

Subgroups	%
Age
16-24	26
25-39	18
40-64	17
65+	26
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	20
Didn't feel close to a particular party	21
Political affiliation
SNP supporter	6
Other	28
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	20
'No interest at all' in politics	22
National identity
More Scottish than British	12
Equally Scottish and British	27
More British than Scottish	46
Religious Identity
Religious	26
Non-religious	16
Political Spectrum
Right	51
Left	14
Urban-Rural
Urban	19
Rural	29

How much do you trust the government to make fair decisions?

In 2017, 37% of people trusted the Scottish Government 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' to make fair decisions. This compared with 40% in 2016 ( Figure 2). 19% trusted the Scottish Government 'not very much' or 'not at all' to make fair decisions.

The proportion of people who trusted the UK Government 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' to make fair decisions was 16%. This compared with 18% in both 2016 and 2015 ( Figure 2). 46% trusted the UK Government 'not very much' or 'not at all' to make fair decisions.

Around one quarter of people (26%) trusted their local council to make fair decisions in 2017. This compared with 32% in 2016 and 34% in 2015 ^[8] ( Figure 2). 26% trusted their local council 'not very much' or 'not at all' to make fair decisions.

People were more than twice as likely to trust the Scottish Government to make fair decisions compared to the UK Government. Trust in the Scottish Government to make fair decisions has been consistently higher than trust in the UK Government since this question was first asked in 2006.

Figure 2 How much do you trust the Scottish Government, UK Government and Local Council to make fair decisions? (2006-2017, % trust 'a great deal' / 'quite a lot') ^[9]

Variations in attitudes between subgroups

Levels of trust in the Scottish Government, UK Government and Local Councils to make fair decisions varied between a number of social groups, based on statistical significance, and are listed here. Variables with no statistically significant differences are listed in Annex A.

37% trusted the Scottish Government to make fair decisions 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot'. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[10] :

Trust in the Scottish Government to make fair decisions ''a great deal' or 'quite a lot'.

Subgroups	%
Political affiliation
SNP supporter	52
Other	29
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	38
'No interest at all' in politics	27
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	53
In work or waiting to take up work	39
Unemployed	20
Retired	32
Age
16-24	43
25-39	42
40-64	37
65+	28
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	39
Didn't feel close to a particular party	34
Educational Qualification
Degree or equivalent	44
No formal qualifications	35
Political Spectrum
Right	25
Left	37
Main Income Source
Wages or private income	39
State benefits	29
Sex
Female	32
Male	42

16% trusted the UK Government to make fair decisions 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot'. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[11] :

Trust in the UK Government to make fair decisions ''a great deal' or 'quite a lot'.

Subgroups	%
Political Spectrum
Right	46
Left	12
National identity
More Scottish than British	11
Equally Scottish and British	21
More British than Scottish	28
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	17
'No interest at all' in politics	7
Political affiliation
SNP supporter	11
Other	19
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	34
In work or waiting to take up work	14
Unemployed	7
Retired	17
Living Comfortably
Living comfortably on present income	18
Struggling on their present income	12
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	15
Didn't feel close to a particular party	18
Religious Identity
Religious	20
Non-religious	13

26% trusted their local council to make fair decisions 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot'. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[12] :

Trust in your Local Council to make fair decisions ''a great deal' or 'quite a lot'.

Subgroups	%
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	47
In work or waiting to take up work	24
Unemployed	15
Retired	27
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	28
'No interest at all' in politics	12
Main Income Source
Wages or private income	28
State benefits	20
Age
16-24	38
25-39	26
40-64	23
65+	27
Living Comfortably
Living comfortably on present income	28
Struggling on their present income	21
Educational Qualification
Degree or equivalent	31
No formal qualifications	25
Political Spectrum
Right	36
Left	24
Tenure
Home owners	26
Private renters	30
Social renters	24
SIMD Quintiles
Least Deprived	26
2	32
3	26
4	25
Most Deprived	22

How good is the government at listening before taking decisions?

Almost half (47%) of people said the Scottish Government was 'very good' or 'quite good' at listening to people's views before taking decisions in 2017. This compared with 54% in 2016 ( Figure 3). 48% of people said the Scottish Government was 'not very good' or 'not at all good'.

The percentage of people who said the UK Government was 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions to people's views before taking decisions was 16% in 2017. This compared with 20% in 2016 ( Figure 3). 79% of people said the UK Government was 'not very good' or 'not at all good'.

In 2017, 41% of people said their local council was good at listening to people's views before taking decisions. This compared with 44% in both 2016 and 2015 ( Figure 3). 44% of people said their local council was 'not very good' or 'not at all good'.

Figure 3 shows the percentage of people saying that the SG is good or very good at listening to people's views before taking decisions since the question was first asked in 2004. It shows that, although this has varied over time, the percentage saying this is higher in 2017 than in 2004. Attitudes to how the UK Government is at listening to people's views before taking decisions have remained stable over time. Since 2004, between 15% and 22% of people have considered the UK Government to be good at listening.

Figure 3 In general how good would you say the Scottish Government, UK Government and your Local Council is at listening to people's views before taking decisions? (2004-2017, % 'very good' / 'quite good')

Variations in attitudes between subgroups

Views on whether the Scottish Government, UK Government and Local Councils were good at listening before taking decisions varied between a number of social groups, based on statistical significance. These are listed here. Variables with no statistically significant differences are listed in Annex A.

47% said the Scottish Government was 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[13] :

The Scottish Government was 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions.

Subgroups	%
Political affiliation
SNP supporter	69
Other	36
Age
16-24	56
25-39	57
40-64	47
65+	34
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	52
Didn't feel close to a particular party	39
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	49
'No interest at all' in politics	33
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	69
In work or waiting to take up work	50
Unemployed	40
Retired	37
Main Income Source
Wages or private income	50
State benefits	36
Political Spectrum
Right	30
Left	50
National identity
More Scottish than British	52
Equally Scottish and British	37
More British than Scottish	40
Tenure
Home owners	46
Private renters	58
Social renters	44
Educational Qualification
Degree or equivalent	56
No formal qualifications	44

16% said the UK Government was 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[14] :

The UK Government was 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions.

Subgroups	%
Political Spectrum
Right	30
Left	11
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	14
Didn't feel close to a particular party	21
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	22
'No interest at all' in politics	16
Age
16-24	28
25-39	16
40-64	13
65+	15
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	33
In work or waiting to take up work	13
Unemployed	18
Retired	13
Political affiliation
SNP supporter	13
Other	18
Children in Household
No children	17
With children	15

41% said their local council was 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[15] :

Local Councils were 'very' or 'quite' good at listening to people's views before taking decisions.

Subgroups	%
Interest in politics
Any interest in politics	43
'No interest at all' in politics	22
Political Spectrum
Right	49
Left	37
Age
16-24	52
25-39	40
40-64	38
65+	40
Economic Activity
Education or full time training	56
In work or waiting to take up work	40
Unemployed	31
Retired	40
Main Income Source
Wages or private income	43
State benefits	33
Living Comfortably
Living comfortably on present income	45
Struggling on their present income	39
Support for a political party
Supported or felt close to a political party	43
Didn't feel close to a particular party	38