Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2015: Attitudes to Social Networks, Civic Participation and Co-production

Key findings

Social networks and belonging

• In 2015, nearly 7 in 10 people in Scotland felt they belonged to their local area either 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' (68%). A slightly higher proportion (76%) said they agreed that 'I feel that there are people in this area I could turn to for advice and support'. Around 9 in 10 people said they meet socially with friends, relatives or work colleagues at least a few times a month (88%).

Civic participation and volunteering

• Nearly 7 in 10 people in Scotland have done at least one activity as a way of registering what they thought about an issue in 2015 (69%). This has increased from 55% in 2009, representing a fourteen percentage point increase in the last six years. Over 4 in 10 had signed a petition (43%) and nearly 3 in 10 had given money to a campaign or organisation (38%). Around 3 in 10 people in 2015 had done an activity to register their views in the last few years that was connected with the Scottish independence referendum.
• Nearly half (46%) of people in Scotland had either volunteered at (or help set up) a local community organisation, helped to organise an event, or tried to stop something happening in their local area. Around 1 in 3 had volunteered or helped out at a local community organisation or charity (35%) and 1 in 6 had helped to organise a community event (17%).
• Around 3 in 5 agreed that '…people in this area are able to find ways to improve things around here when they want to' (61%). And around a quarter used the internet 'very' or 'quite' often to contact local community groups.

Co-production

• The majority of people in Scotland support the idea of co-production in both the design and delivery of local public services. At least 8 in 10 felt that people either 'definitely should' or 'probably should' be involved in making decisions about how local services are run, making decisions about how money is spent on local services and should be able to volunteer alongside paid staff to provide local services.
• The most support was shown for people being involved in making decisions about how local services are run, with just over a half feeling that people 'definitely should' be involved (53%). This compares with around a third who felt that people 'definitely should' be involved in making decisions about how money is spent on local services (34%), and 'definitely should' be able to volunteer alongside paid staff to provide local services (35%).