Publication of findings from the Scottish Household Survey 2023: trust in public institutions

The Scottish Household Survey: Trust in Public Institutions 2023 report, published today, contains the key findings of the question asked in the social survey on trust in public institutions in Scotland. The survey asked to what extent people trusted seven different public institutions: the Scottish Government, local government, the Civil Service, the education system, the health system, the police and the justice system (which includes courts, lawyers and prisons).

The institutions that adults in Scotland were most likely to express trust in were the health system (78%) and the police (73%). Compared to 2022 findings, this represents a very slight decline in trust in the health system (79% in 2022) and a slightly larger decline in trust in the police (78% in 2022).

Of the seven institutions, people were most likely to express distrust in the Scottish Government (45%) and local government (35%). Compared to 2022 figures, this represents a slight increase in distrust of local government (32% in 2022) and a larger increase in distrust in Scottish Government (38% in 2022).

The Scottish Household Survey provides breakdowns according to the following demographic characteristics: sex, age, disability, ethnicity, urban rural classification, and area deprivation. Changes in levels of trust vary across these characteristics and in relation to the different public institutions being asked about.

Background

The full statistical publication Scottish Household Survey 2023: trust in institutions is available, providing an overview of key findings according to different demographic characteristics. The data tables accompanying this publication can be found under ‘supporting documents’ on the publication page.

The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is an annual survey of the general population in Scotland, carried out since 1999. It aims to collect reliable and up-to-date information on a range of topics, through a random sample of people in private residences. It is a voluntary and interviewer-led survey. In 2023, as is typical, the SHS was carried out as a face-to-face interview, primarily administered in people’s homes. The 2023 methodology and fieldwork outcomes report provides details of the methods used. The achieved sample was 9,746 for the random adult part of the survey. Fieldwork was undertaken from February 2023 to February 2024.

Prior to 2023, results from the SHS were published in one key findings report split into chapters by topic area. From 2023 onwards a new approach to reporting is being undertaken with individual topic reports being published. The full set of SHS 2023 data tables will be published via the SHS Data Explorer on 2 December 2024.

This publication contains the key findings of the questions relating to trust in public institutions.

The 2023 results are published as official statistics (see below) in line with 2022. This is in contrast to 2020 and 2021, which were published as experimental statistics. This was due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the 2020 and 2021 survey years having a different methodology, lower response rates and a change in the profile of respondents compared to typical survey years. Data relating to 2020 and 2021 can be found in their respective key findings reports and supplementary documents.

Official statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.