Satisfaction with public services on the decrease

Satisfaction with public services has fallen to its lowest level since 2007, according to the Scottish Government’s Scottish Household Survey.

The major survey providing wide-ranging snapshot of Scottish life found 56 per cent of adults were happy with local health services, schools and public transport.

That compares to 57 per cent when the question was first asked in 2007 and a high of 66 per cent in 2011.

Statisticians attributed the fall to increasing numbers “ambivalent” about schools.

While satisfaction with local schools has fallen from a high of 85 per cent in 2011 to 73 per cent, this is due to an increase in the number of people who are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

However, the survey found those who have children in school were happier with the service than those who do not, with satisfaction at 88 per cent among service users.

Those who lived in rural areas were more likely to be satisfied with their school than those in cities (78 per cent compared to 67 per cent) while the opposite was true of public transport (49 per cent compared to 80 per cent).it identified a rise in the proportion of Scottish households in the private rented sector, from 5 per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2016.

Over the same period the percentage in social housing fell from 32 per cent to 23 per cent while owner occupation remains at about 61 per cent. More than nine in ten adults thought their neighbourhood was a good place to live, but that dropped to just three in ten in the most deprived areas of the country.

The proportion of households reporting that they manage well financially increased from 48 per cent in 2013 to 56 per cent.

The survey found those who have children in school were happier with the service than those who do not