Core Module - Attitudes to Government, the Economy and Public Services in Scotland

Authors: Rachel Ormston and Susan Reid

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Summary

This report presents findings from the Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey on three key questions:

• How have attitudes to government, public services, the economy and living standards changed over time?

• Who held more or less positive views on these issues in 2010?

• What are people‟s views about the delivery and responsiveness of local public services?

It uses SSA data from 1999 onwards to explore how attitudes to government and public services have changed in the last decade, with a particular focus on how changing political and economic contexts are impacting on public opinion.

The latest data included in this report were collected between June and October 2010 (i.e. prior to the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections)

Background

The Scottish Government Office of the Chief Researcher has funded a „core module‟ of questions on attitudes to government, the economy and public services in the Scottish Social Attitudes survey (SSA) since 2004, continuing a time series begun in 1999. The 2010 core module also included a number of new questions focusing on views of local public service delivery and responsiveness.