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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The Scottish Social Attitudes (
SSA) survey was launched in 1999
following the advent of devolution and has been conducted
annually ever since. In 2004, the Scottish Social Attitudes
Survey included a Core Module of questions funded, for the
first time, by the Scottish Executive's Office of Chief
Researcher. The two main aims of the
SSA core module are:
- to help inform the Scottish Executive's policy
evaluation and policy making functions by providing
robust measures of public attitudes towards the key
devolved policy areas; and
- to help maintain time series data on key questions
of Scottish interest, mainly relating to devolution and
broad constitutional issues.
2. The topics covered in the 2004 Core Module addressed
the following broad issues:
- How much do people
know about the Scottish Executive and
Westminster governments?
- Who is most
trusted to look after Scotland's best
interests: the Scottish Executive or
UK Government?
- In what ways do people get
involved in the political process and
is the system judged to be receptive to their
input?
- Is
devolution delivering what people
hoped it might?
- How do people rate the performance of
public services in Scotland?
- Do the Scottish Executive's
priorities match those of people in
Scotland?
- What do people think about their
local area?
KNOWLEDGE OF GOVERNMENT
3. People were asked how much they had seen or heard
about the work of both the Scottish Executive and the
UK Government over the past year.
Awareness of both was fairly low - three in ten people
(29%) said they had heard "a great deal" or "quite a lot"
about the Scottish Executive, while slightly more (34%)
said this about the
UK Government. Awareness of the Scottish
Executive's activities was highest amongst people with a
high level of interest in politics generally, those with
higher education, managers and professionals, and men.
4. People were generally more knowledgeable about the
Scottish Executive's responsibilities than about the
process of how devolution operates. For example, over half
(56%) correctly identified that decisions about health
spending are largely taken in Scotland whereas just 13%
knew that there are more than 70 Members of the Scottish
Parliament.
TRUST IN GOVERNMENT
5. More people expressed trust in the Scottish Executive
to look after Scotland's best interests than trusted the
UK government to do this. Half (52%)
trusted the Executive to look after Scotland's interests
"just about always" or "most of the time", while less than
a quarter (22%) said the same of the
UK government. Since 2000 the proportion
who say they trust the Scottish Executive "just about
always" or "most of the time" has fluctuated between around
six in ten and five in ten people in alternate years.
6. Trust in the Scottish Executive was highest amongst
supporters of devolution (as opposed to independence or
direct rule from Westminster), Liberal Democrat supporters,
people with higher education, 18-24 year olds, and people
with a high level of awareness of the Scottish Executive's
activities.
VOTING AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
7. Despite declining levels of turnout in recent years,
a large majority of people considered voting to be "very"
or "fairly important." Nearly eight in ten (78%) considered
it "very" or "fairly important" to vote in Scottish
Parliament elections and similar proportions said the same
for Westminster and local council elections. Fewer people
(64%) considered European elections to be important.
8. The view that it is "very important" to vote in
Scottish Parliament elections was particularly likely to be
held by people with high levels of political interest,
older people, Liberal Democrat supporters, people who
support devolution, those who trust the Scottish Executive,
and women.
9. The survey asked whether people had ever registered
their views about an issue (people were given 14 possible
ways of doing this, such as contacting a Member of the
Scottish Parliament or going on a demonstration). A quarter
(26%) said they had not done any of them. Signing a
petition was the most common thing people had done (59%)
followed by attending a public meeting (31%) and giving
money to a campaign or organisation (27%). The people who
were least likely to have registered their views in these
ways were: 18-24 year olds, people with low levels of
political interest, people with no qualifications, people
who do not support any political party and those in routine
or semi-routine occupations.
10. People were also asked how good the Scottish
Executive and
UK Governments are at listening to
people's views. Twice as many people said the Scottish
Executive was "very good" or "good" at listening to people
before taking decisions (32%) than said this about the
UK Government (15%).
EVALUATIONS OF DEVOLUTION
11. Since 1999
SSA has asked people who they think
should have most influence over how Scotland is
run, and who in fact
does have most influence. In each year since 2000,
clear majorities of between three-quarters and two-thirds
said that the Scottish Executive should have the most
influence. However, no more than one in five has ever said
that it does have most influence (19% in 2004).
12.
SSA has also asked people annually
whether they think devolution is strengthening Scotland's
voice within the
UK. In 1997 and 1999 70% thought that
devolution would result in Scotland having a stronger voice
in the
UK. Since 2001 the proportion who
believe Scotland now has a stronger voice in the
UK has fluctuated between a half (52%)
and a third (35%), while the proportion who believe
devolution has made no difference on this front has
increased from four in ten (40%) in 2001 to and over half
(55%) in 2004.
EVALUATIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICES
13. The survey asked people to say whether the standards
of the following had increased or fallen over the previous
year: the standard of the health service, the quality of
education service, the general standard of living, public
transport and the strength of the economy.
14. There was little notable change in people's
evaluations of the health service, education and the
general standard of living between 2001, 2003 and 2004.
15. With the exception of the health service, more
people on balance said that standards had increased than
said they had fallen, though in most cases the margin was
quite small (the most common answer given was that things
had stayed the same). In contrast, 41% said that health
service standards had fallen while 18% said they had
increased. Women and older people were more likely than men
and younger people to say that health service standards had
fallen.
16. The groups most likely to have given a favourable
evaluation of education quality were: young people, Labour
supporters, people in remote rural areas and those with
children aged 4-15 living in their household. Transport
standards were most likely to be judged to have increased
by young people and those who use public transport on most
days, while those living in small remote towns were the
group most likely to say standards had fallen.
17. When evaluating the economy, Labour and Liberal
Democrat supporters, and young people were more likely to
say that it had strengthened, whereas people having
difficulty coping on their income were much more likely to
say that economy had weakened than people living
comfortably.
18. In 2004 people gave the Scottish Executive the
credit for increases in the quality of education, transport
and a stronger economy. The
UK Government was given the credit for
increased health service standards. Responsibility for
declining standards was generally attributed to the
UK Government, with the exception of the
economy, where the Scottish Executive was most commonly
held responsible for its weakening.
POLICY PRIORITIES
19. To see whether the Scottish Executive's priorities
matched the public's people were asked to say what was the
most important thing the Scottish Executive should try and
achieve. The top three answers given were: improve people's
health (27%), cut crime (22%), and improve standards of
education (17%). While improving health was the top
priority for most people those living in remote rural areas
stood out as the most likely to choose this (39%). Those
under 25 were the group least likely to choose the economy
(4%). Those having difficulty coping on their income were
twice as likely to choose housing compared to people living
very comfortably (19% compared with 11%).
PERCEPTIONS OF LOCAL AREAS
20. When asked to choose from a list three things people
thought make an area a good place to live the most popular
options were: a low level of crime (25%), strong community
spirit (17%) and good quality affordable housing (13%).
Having established the kinds of attributes people thought
important for a local area, people were then asked what
they thought was most in need of improvement in their own
area. Facilities for young children (16%) and the amount of
good quality affordable housing (15%) were most commonly
cited. People's views about their own area were more
strongly related to the areas they lived in than their
individual characteristics (such as age or socio-economic
group). When asked who should be responsible for improving
the aspect they had identified as most in need of
improvement people tended to pick bodies with primary
service delivery functions, such as the Health Board for
GP services or the police for crime
rates.
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