Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2017: attitudes data

2. Influence over how Scotland is run

The Scottish Social Attitudes ( SSA) Survey 2017 asked participants questions about who has and who should have most influence over how Scotland is run:

• Which of the following do you think has most influence over the way Scotland is run: the Scottish Government, the UK Government, local councils in Scotland?
• And which do you think ought to have most influence over the way Scotland is run, the Scottish Government, the UK Government, local councils in Scotland?

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

Who has most influence over the way Scotland is run?

In 2017, when asked who has the most influence over the way Scotland is run, 43% of people said the Scottish Government, 41% said the UK Government, 5% said local councils and 7% said the European Union ( Figure 4).

During the first decade of devolution, considerably more people said that the UK Government had most influence. The gap has narrowed over time and 2016 was the first year in the series that people were more likely to say that the Scottish Government has the most influence.

Figure 4 Which of the following do you think has most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2017, %)

Who ought to have most influence over the way Scotland is run?

When asked who ought to have most influence over the way Scotland is run, nearly three-quarters (74%) of people said that the Scottish Government should have most influence. This compared with 75% in 2016 ( Figure 5).

The percentage who said the UK Government should have most influence over the way Scotland is run was 15% in 2017. This compared with 14% in 2016 ( Figure 5).

8% of people said local councils should have the most influence over the way Scotland is run, the same as in 2016 ( Figure 5).

In 2017, people were nearly five times more likely to say the Scottish Government should have most influence than the UK Government. The proportion of people saying the Scottish Government should have most influence over the way Scotland is run has not dropped below 63% since this question was first asked in 1999.

Figure 5 Which do you think ought to have most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2017, %)

Variations in attitudes between subgroups

Views on which government has, and ought to have, the most influence over the way Scotland is run 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.

43% said the Scottish Government has most influence over the way Scotland is run. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[16] :

The Scottish Government has most influence over the way Scotland is run.

74% said the Scottish Government should have most influence over the way Scotland is run. This varied by subgroup as follows ^[17] :

The Scottish Government should have most influence over the way Scotland is run.