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Scotland's View on Devolution: Assessing Policy Priorities and Public Opinion

Explore Scottish public opinion on devolution through the analysis of the Scottish Social Attitudes survey. Assess the support for flagship policies and their alignment with distinctively Scottish aspirations. Examine the relationship between support for devolution and key policy decisions. Discover the impact of demographics, national identity, party ID, and constitutional preferences on public opinion.

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Scotland's View on Devolution: Assessing Policy Priorities and Public Opinion

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  1. What does Scotland think of devolution so far? Rachel Ormston & Lisa Given

  2. About the data

  3. The data • Scottish Social Attitudes survey • High quality independent survey conducted annually since 1999 • Linked to British Social Attitudes survey • Informs public policy and academic study • Conducted by Scottish Centre for Social Research • Funded by research councils, charitable foundations, Scottish Government

  4. The data • Scottish Social Attitudes survey • Random sample, 1,500-1,600 adults aged 18+ • Boost of remote and rural addresses • CAPI with self-completion • Weighted

  5. Access to rural services Community care Community care Devolution and constitutional reform Discrimination Drinking and smoking Drugs Education and student funding Elections and politics Environmental issues Family law Fertility Health Housing Homelessness Local neighbourhoods National and social identities Older people, pensions and care Religion Transport Young people and crime And more! SSA topics 1999-2007

  6. What does Scotland think of devolution so far?

  7. Scottish policies for Scottish priorities? • Free personal care • Tuition fees • Smoking ban • Move to replace council tax • Free prescriptions

  8. Scottish policies for Scottish priorities? • How high is support for ‘flagship’ policies? • Do they address distinctively Scottish aspirations? • Are they meeting priorities of all groups in Scotland? • Is support for devolution in principle associated with support for key policy decisions?

  9. Different policies, different priorities? Free personal care (2005)

  10. Different policies, different priorities? Free personal care (2005)

  11. But not always true - Tuition fees (1) Who should pay the cost of university tuition (Scotland 2007)

  12. But not always true - Tuition fees (2) Attitudes to paying fees while studying (2003)

  13. And Scottish public opinion not static - Tuition fees 3 Attitudes to paying fees while studying 2000, 2001, 2003

  14. Policies shaping Scottish public opinion? Smoking ban

  15. Year before the ban – England vs. Scotland

  16. Popular new policies? 1 – Replace Council Tax (Scotland 2007)

  17. Popular new policies? 2 - Scrap prescription charges (Scotland 2007)

  18. Who is most positive and negative about different policies? • Logistic regressions including: • Demographics (age, sex, class, education, urban-rural) • National identity • Party ID • Constitutional preference • Broader evaluations of devolution: • Gives ordinary people more say • SP/SE most influence • Important to vote in SP elections

  19. Free personal care (1) – A policy for older people? % government should pay, no matter how much money a person has (Scotland 2007)

  20. Free personal care (2) – A middle-class policy? % government should pay, no matter how much money a person has (Scotland 2007)

  21. Tuition fees (1) – A policy for the young? % think no students/families should pay towards cost of tuition (Scotland 2007)

  22. Tuition fees (2) – And the rich? % think no students/families should pay towards cost of tuition (Scotland 2007)

  23. Tuition fees (3) – Education % think no students/families should pay towards cost of tuition (Scotland 2007)

  24. Smoking ban – A middle-class policy? % Support complete ban (Scotland 2004 and 2007)

  25. Prescription charges - age % Agree with scrapping charges (Scotland 2007)

  26. Conclusions • Broad support for smoking ban, FPC and scrapping CT (and FPC distinctively Scottish) • Views on scrapping prescription charges and tuition fees more lukewarm • Those who are most likely to benefit tend to be more positive • Attitudes to flagship policies, for the most part, not that strongly related to attitudes to principle and practice of devolution

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