Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2017: attitudes data

Annex B. Time series Tables

This Annex contains back series tables and the latest results for all questions in the core module.

Table 1 How much do you trust the UK Government to work in Scotland's best long-term interest? (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2000 %	2001 %	2002 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2008 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Just about always	3	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	3	4	3	2	3	2
Most of the time	29	16	20	17	19	20	21	19	32	23	19	15	28	23	21	22	19
Only some of the time	52	54	55	51	58	50	53	52	44	48	51	49	45	45	44	43	43
Almost never	14	26	22	26	20	26	21	24	18	24	23	31	22	27	31	30	35
(Don't know)	-	-	-	-	-	2	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	2	1	2
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	-	*	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	*
Sample size	1482	1663	1605	1665	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 2 How much do you trust the Scottish Government to work in Scotland's best interests? (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2000 %	2001 %	2002 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2008 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Just about always	26	9	13	9	10	9	10	8	14	14	13	20	16	16	22	17	15
Most of the time	55	45	52	43	52	43	46	43	57	47	47	51	46	43	50	49	46
Only some of the time	14	34	29	34	31	37	33	37	22	31	31	23	28	31	21	25	28
Almost never	2	9	5	11	4	10	7	8	4	5	6	5	9	8	5	8	9
(Don't know)	-	-	-	-	-	2	3	3	4	3	2	1	2	2	1	1	2
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	-	*	*	*	-	-	*	-	*	-
Sample size	1482	1663	1605	1665	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 3 How much do you trust the UK Government to make fair decisions? (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
A great deal	2	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	2
Quite a lot	21	30	17	21	15	17	16	15	15
Some	46	43	48	44	42	39	37	39	36
Not very much	23	17	24	23	27	28	28	29	34
Not at all	6	4	7	7	11	11	14	13	12
(Don't know)	3	3	2	2	1	2	2	2	1
(Not answered)	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	*	-
Sample size	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 4 How much do you trust the Scottish Government to make fair decisions? (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
A great deal	3	4	4	4	8	5	8	8	5
Quite a lot	29	42	32	32	38	33	41	33	32
Some	46	39	46	46	39	42	38	41	43
Not very much	15	8	13	13	11	14	9	13	15
Not at all	5	2	3	3	3	4	3	4	4
(Don't know)	3	4	3	2	1	2	1	1	1
(Not answered)	*	*	*	-	-	-	-	*	-
Sample size	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 5 How much do you trust your local council to make fair decisions? (2006-2017, column %)

	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
A great deal	4	4	3
Quite a lot	30	28	23
Some	37	33	38
Not very much	16	18	19
Not at all	6	8	7
(Don't know)	7	9	9
(Not answered)	-	*	-
Sample size	1288	1237	1234

Table 6 In general how good would you say the Scottish Government is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions? (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very good	1	3	2	2	4	3	6	4	8	7	4
Quite good	31	32	34	41	44	41	50	42	51	47	44
Not very good	41	38	39	35	33	37	26	33	25	28	34
Not at all good	17	16	14	9	8	11	8	12	9	12	14
(Don't know)	10	12	11	13	11	8	9	9	7	5	5
(Not answered)	*	*	-	*	-	-	-	-	*	*	-
Sample size	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 7 In general how good would you say the UK Government is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions? (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very good	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Quite good	14	15	17	21	17	21	18	20	16	20	15
Not very good	50	52	49	50	51	51	48	49	49	51	49
Not at all good	30	25	27	21	23	20	27	24	28	24	30
(Don't know)	6	7	7	8	7	7	6	6	6	5	4
(Not answered)	*	*	*	*	-	-	-	-	-	*	-
Sample size	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 8 In general how good would you say your local council is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions? (2010-2017, column %)

	2010 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very good	3	6	7	5
Quite good	34	38	38	36
Not very good	38	28	26	28
Not at all good	17	14	14	16
(Don't know)	8	14	15	16
(Not answered)	-	*	*	-
Sample size	1495	1288	1237	1234

Table 9 From what you have seen and heard so far do you think that having a Scottish Parliament is giving ordinary people…(1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2000 %	2001 %	2002 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
…more say in how Scotland is governed	64	44	38	31	39	31	37	37	47	47	42	60	46	46	61	59	57
…less say	2	3	4	4	4	6	5	5	3	3	4	3	6	5	3	3	4
…or, is it making no difference?	32	51	56	62	54	60	55	55	45	47	50	33	47	45	33	37	38
(Don't know)	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	1	3	3	2	2
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	-	*	*	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	-	*	-
Sample size	1482	1663	1605	1665	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 10 From what you have seen and heard so far do you think that having a Scottish Parliament is giving Scotland…(1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2000 %	2001 %	2002 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
…a stronger voice in the United Kingdom	70	52	52	39	49	35	41	43	61	52	49	69	59	57	70	71	64
…a weaker voice in the United Kingdom	7	6	6	7	7	7	6	6	4	5	6	3	6	6	3	3	4
…or, is it making no difference?	20	40	40	52	41	55	50	49	32	40	42	26	33	34	26	24	31
(Don't know)	-	-	-	-	-	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	2
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	-	*	*		-	*	*	-	-	-	-	*	-
Sample size	1482	1663	1605	1665	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 11 Which of the following do you think has the most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2000 %	2001 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
The Scottish Government	41	13	15	17	19	23	24	28	33	37	38	34	30	41	42	43
The UK Government at Westminster	39	66	66	64	48	47	38	47	39	45	38	41	47	42	41	41
Local Councils in Scotland	8	10	9	7	20	15	18	8	11	7	13	10	12	6	5	5
The European Union	5	4	7	5	6	8	11	9	10	7	7	9	7	5	8	7
(Don't know)	8	8	-	6	7	7	9	7	7	5	4	6	4	6	4	4
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	*	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-
Sample size	1482	1663	1605	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 12 Which of the following do you think ought to have the most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2000 %	2001 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
The Scottish Government	74	72	74	66	67	67	64	71	72	74	73	63	63	76	75	74
The UK Government at Westminster	13	13	14	20	12	13	11	14	13	16	13	24	20	14	14	15
Local Councils in Scotland	8	10	8	9	17	15	19	9	11	6	11	8	13	7	8	8
The European Union	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
(Don't know)	-	5	-	-	3	4	4	4	3	3	2	4	3	2	2	3
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	*	*	*	*	-	-	-	*	*	*	*	*
Sample size	1482	1663	1605	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 13 What should be the Scottish Government's highest priority? (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Improve standards of education	17	15	16	12	15	12	15	18	22	21	26
Help the economy grow faster	16	18	14	16	33	37	36	35	32	28	22
Improve people's heath	27	26	24	17	13	15	16	18	17	15	19
Improve housing	12	10	12	16	13	9	11	13	15	16	15
Reduce inequality	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	4	10	7
Cut crime	22	23	24	27	17	18	17	10	4	4	6
Improve the environment	4	4	6	5	3	3	2	1	2	2	2
Improve public transport	1	1	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1
Sample size	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 14 All in all, how satisfied or dissatisfied would you say you are with the way in which the National Health Service runs nowadays? (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2011 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very satisfied	9	7	6	10	12	13	16	14	14
Quite satisfied	46	33	39	41	44	49	46	46	41
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	17	16	18	14	20	12	14	17	15
Quite dissatisfied	19	27	29	22	17	19	17	14	21
Very dissatisfied	7	16	8	11	6	6	7	8	9
(Don't know)	1	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	0
(Not answered)	*	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	*
Sample size	1482	1549	1594	1508	1197	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 15 Whether the standard of the health service in Scotland has increased or fallen. (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2001 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Increased a lot	2	2	2	3	2	4	2	4	3	4	2	2	1
Increased a little	21	21	18	15	15	16	17	22	16	18	9	11	7
Stayed the same	35	29	25	31	38	31	45	41	35	39	41	40	36
Fallen a little	20	26	26	23	24	23	20	17	21	19	26	23	33
Fallen a lot	14	15	20	24	12	18	6	8	14	12	14	14	15
(Don't know)	8	7	8	5	10	8	10	8	11	9	8	11	6
(Not answered)	-	-	-	-	*	-	-	*	-	-	-	-	-
Sample size	1482	1605	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1288	1237	1234

Table 16 Who is 'credited' for an increase in the standard of the health service in Scotland. (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Scottish Government policies	41	50	55	49	58	57	54	57
UK Government policies	24	34	18	30	15	13	16	16
Some other reason	17	9	13	16	20	16	24	13
Both Westminster and SG	7	1	6	2	1	4	2	9
(Don't know)	11	6	8	4	7	10	4	6
Unweighted sample size	313	279	387	286	236	148	140	106

Table 17 Who is 'blamed' for a fall in the standard of the health service in Scotland. (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Scottish Government policies	20	14	12	18	12	19	25	27
UK Government policies	44	45	41	49	54	48	40	46
Some other reason	20	25	30	21	21	21	18	13
Both Westminster and SG	8	3	11	8	8	8	12	11
(Don't know)	7	13	6	5	5	4	4	3
Unweighted sample size	696	422	383	524	388	510	486	602

Table 18 What about Scotland's economy? Has it got stronger or weaker since (month of interview) previous year? (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
A lot stronger	3	2	2	2	1	*	2	1	1	1	2	1
A little stronger	25	21	28	28	7	11	16	13	23	25	14	14
Stayed the same	29	34	28	36	11	15	16	20	31	28	21	25
A little weaker	22	19	18	10	43	41	39	41	28	28	39	40
A lot weaker	5	3	2	1	29	23	18	17	8	6	15	10
(Don't know)	17	22	21	22	8	9	9	9	9	11	9	10
Sample size	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 19 What about the general standard of living in Scotland? Has it increased or fallen since (month of interview) previous year? (1999-2017, column %)

	1999 %	2001 %	2003 %	2004 %	2005 %	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Increased a lot	2	3	4	4	3	4	2	3	2	2	2	5	1	1	2
Increased a little	27	27	30	27	25	30	27	13	11	9	10	10	18	18	12
Stayed the same	43	45	36	40	45	37	41	25	28	19	23	25	33	38	26
Fallen a little	18	15	17	18	17	17	16	38	38	39	39	38	29	27	39
Fallen a lot	6	4	7	6	4	5	4	16	16	29	22	20	13	9	16
(Don't know)	5	6	7	5	7	6	9	4	4	2	4	2	5	7	5
Sample size	1482	1605	1508	1637	1549	1594	1508	1482	1495	1197	1229	1497	1288	1237	1234

Table 20 Who is 'credited' for a stronger economy in Scotland. (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Scottish Government policies	47	56	66	39	69	61	47	54	60	68
UK Government policies	19	21	14	21	15	18	16	16	14	10
Some other reason	20	15	12	32	10	14	26	21	18	14
Both Westminster and SG	8	2	2	2	2	4	8	7	4	7
(Don't know)	6	5	6	6	4	3	4	3	4	2
Unweighted sample size	454	441	120	177	193	164	373	335	175	179

Table 21 Who is 'blamed' for a weaker economy in Scotland. (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Scottish Government policies	26	17	7	14	11	14	15	14	18	29
UK Government policies	42	44	38	44	54	47	45	38	35	39
Some other reason	16	25	44	35	26	31	29	37	37	15
Both Westminster and SG	13	7	9	6	8	8	9	10	9	13
(Don't know)	3	8	2	1	1	1	3	1	2	3
Unweighted sample size	330	187	1037	941	683	700	533	447	679	614

Table 22 Who is 'credited' for an increase in the standard of living. (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Scottish Government policies	30	32	22	37	44	46	23	37	41	43
UK Government policies	28	36	24	33	31	27	42	28	28	28
Some other reason	26	23	30	22	12	17	18	26	16	15
Both Westminster and SG	6	3	9	4	10	5	5	4	9	9
(Don't know)	10	7	12	4	3	5	12	4	5	6
Unweighted sample size	548	432	400	211	121	137	240	261	212	177

Table 23 Who is 'blamed' for a fall in the standard of living. (2006-2017, column %)

	2006 %	2007 %	2009 %	2010 %	2011 %	2012 %	2013 %	2015 %	2016 %	2017 %
Scottish Government policies	18	10	6	8	6	7	6	7	15	16
UK Government policies	51	56	39	49	58	53	55	62	50	50
Some other reason	18	26	44	36	27	30	29	17	19	14
Both Westminster and SG	10	4	8	4	7	7	8	10	13	17
(Don't know)	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	3
Unweighted sample size	349	311	783	798	803	780	875	532	468	685

Table 24 Importance of Voting in Scottish Parliament Elections. (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very important	47	48	68	76
Fairly important	31	28	23	16
Not very important	11	12	6	4
Not important at all	5	5	3	4
(Don't Know)	-	-	*	-
(Not answered)	-	-	*	*
Sample size	1,637	1,549	1,237	1,234

Table 25 Importance of Voting in UK General Elections. (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very important	49	52	58	68
Fairly important	30	27	26	18
Not very important	10	9	11	9
Not important at all	4	4	5	4
(Don't Know)	-	-	*	-
(Not answered)	-	-	*	*
Sample size	1,637	1,549	1,237	1,234

Table 26 Importance of Voting in Local Council Elections. (2004-2017, column %)

	2004 %	2005 %	2016 %	2017 %
Very important	49	47	57	65
Fairly important	31	29	30	22
Not very important	11	12	10	8
Not important at all	4	5	3	4
(Don't Know)	-	-	*	-
(Not answered)	-	-	*	*
Sample size	1,637	1,549	1,237	1,234