Scottish social attitudes: attitudes to government and political engagement, 2016

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? (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 2 How much do you trust the Scottish Government/Executive /Parliament to work in Scotland's best interests? (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 3 How much do you trust the UK Government to make fair decisions? (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 4 How much do you trust the Scottish Government to make fair decisions? (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 5 How much do you trust your local council to make fair decisions? (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 6 In general how good would you say the Scottish Executive/ Government is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions? (2004-2016, column %)

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

Table 7 In general how good would you say the UK Government is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions? (2004-2016, column %)

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

Table 8 In general how good would you say your local council is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions? (2010-2016, column %)

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

Table 9 From what you have seen and heard so far do you think that having a Scottish Parliament is giving ordinary people…(1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 10 From what you have seen and heard so far do you think that having a Scottish Parliament is giving Scotland…(1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 11 Which of the following do you think has the most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 12 Which of the following do you think ought to have the most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 13 What should be the Scottish Government's highest priority? (2004-2016, column %)

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

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? (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 15 Whether the standard of the health service in Scotland has increased or fallen. (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 16 Who is 'credited' for an increase in the standard of the health service in Scotland. (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 17 Who is 'blamed' for a fall in the standard of the health service in Scotland. (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 18 What about Scotland's economy? Has it got stronger or weaker since (month of interview) previous year? (2004-2016, column %)

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

Table 19 What about the general standard of living in Scotland? Has it increased or fallen since (month of interview) previous year? (1999-2016, column %)

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

Table 20 Who is 'credited' for a stronger economy in Scotland. (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 21 Who is 'blamed' for a weaker economy in Scotland. (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 22 Who is 'credited' for an increase in the standard of living. (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 23 Who is 'blamed' for a fall in the standard of living. (2006-2016, column %)

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

Table 24 How much did you talk about the following political events with friends, family colleagues? (2016, column %)

	Independence Referendum	2016 Scottish Parliament election	EU Referendum
	%	%	%
A great deal	38	11	31
Quite a lot	31	22	34
Some	14	26	17
Not very much	10	27	11
Not at all	7	14	7
(Not answered)	*	-	-
Sample size	1237	1237	1237

Table 25 As a result of the Independence Referendum, how much do you talk about politics? (2016, column %)

	2016
	%
A lot more	28
A little more	25
It has made no difference	40
A little less	3
A lot less	3
(Don't know)	*
Sample size	1237

Table 26 How important do you think voting in the following elections is? (2016, column %)

	Scottish Parliament elections	UK general elections	Local council elections
	%	%	%
Very important	68	58	57
Fairly important	23	25	30
Not very important	6	11	10
Not important at all	3	5	3
(Don't know)	*	*	*
(Not answered)	*	*	*
Sample size	1212	1212	1212

Table 27 In the last few years, have you ever done any of the things on this card as a way of registering what you personally thought about an issue? (2016, column %)

	2016
	%
None	34
Signed a petition	45
Contacted my local council	26
Given money to a campaign or organisation	22
Contacted MP/ MSP	19
Attended a public meeting	18
Spoken to an influential person	14
Responded to a consultation document	11
Attended consultation event	9
Gone on a protest or demonstration	9
Contacted a government department directly	7
Raised issue in an organisation I already belong to	7
Joined a political party	7
Actively took part in a campaign	6
Contacted radio, TV or a newspaper	6
Joined an existing organisation	4
Formed a group	4
Sample size	1237

REVISIONS TABLE

	Date	Changes
First Published 1.0	24/03/2017	Update 1.0

Revisions Detail:

Publication 1.0

First Published 24/03/2017