Scottish Government trusted by fewer than half of Scots, survey finds

Fewer than half of Scots trust the Scottish Government, a study has found.

The Scottish household survey, commissioned by the Government, found trust has fallen across the board since 2022.

Among all seven public institutions polled, people were most likely to distrust the Scottish Government.

In 2025, 46% of people said they trusted the Government in Edinburgh while 45% said they did not. The report described public trust in the Government as “neutral”.

Local government was the second least trusted at 41% while 50% said they trust councils.

Compared to 2022, trust for both levels of government fell by nine points in 2025 – the largest of any institution.

However, trust levels have been more stable since 2023, with only the health service and local government seeing a noticeable fall.

Adults in Scotland were still most likely to trust the NHS and the police (both 74%).

Distrust was lowest for the police (19%), the education system (20%) and the civil service (22%), though distrust in the health system rose from 18% in 2023 to 24% in 2025.

Trust varied across different age groups, with those aged 16 to 34 reporting higher levels of trust than adults in the older age groups, while disabled adults reported lower trust and higher distrust than non-disabled adults across all institutions.

Trust was also higher among minority ethnic groups and lower among adults living in the most deprived areas.

Differences by sex and urban-rural classification were less pronounced, the report said.

It said that changes in trust since 2023 were smaller than those seen earlier in the period, suggesting “some stabilisation in trust levels”.

It added that fewer people were responding “don’t know” to questions on trust compared to 2023 while distrust rose across six of the seven institutions.

The report said: “Taken together, these findings suggest that public opinion may be moving towards more defined positions of either trust or distrust, and away from more neutral positions.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is encouraging that levels of trust in the Scottish Government, the Civil Service, police and education have remained stable since 2023, with trust in the justice system improving.

“It is also encouraging to see that the Carnegie UK 2026 Life in the UK: Scotland Report, published this week, finds that the proportion of people who had ‘high’ trust in the Scottish Government had increased by six percentage points between 2025 and 2026.

“Ministers are focused on the Scottish Government’s four key priorities: eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency and delivering high quality and sustainable public services.

“Delivering on the actions people care about will build trust in the Government.”