Publication of Trust in Public Institutions (2025): Findings from the Scottish Household Survey
The Scottish Household Survey: Trust in Public Institutions (2025): Findings from the Scottish Household Survey report, published yesterday, contains key findings for the survey question on trust in public institutions in Scotland.
In 2025, adults in Scotland were most likely to trust the Health System and the Police (both 74%). Trust was lowest for the Scottish Government (46%) and Local Government (50%).
The Scottish Government (45%) and Local Government (41%) attracted the highest levels of distrust in 2025, while distrust was lowest for the Police (19%), the Education System (20%) and the Civil Service (22%). Compared with 2023, distrust increased most for Local Government (from 35% to 41%) and the Health System (from 18% to 24%).
‘Net trust’ is the difference between the percentage of people who expressed trust in an institution, and those who expressed distrust. More adults expressed trust than distrust in six of the seven institutions.
The Police had the highest net trust (+54 percentage points), with 74% of adults expressing trust and 19% expressing distrust.
Net trust in the Scottish Government was neutral, with equal proportions of adults expressing trust and distrust.
Trust varied across population groups. Adults aged 16 to 34 generally reported 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 generally 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.
Trust in all seven institutions was lower in 2025 than in 2022, with the largest declines for the Scottish Government and Local Government (both down nine percentage points).
Changes in trust since 2023 were generally smaller than those seen earlier in the period, with trust levels increasing slightly for the Justice system and remaining stable for four of the seven institutions (the Police, Scottish Government, Civil Service and Education system) – suggesting that the decline in trust may be stabilising.
Over the 2023 to 2025 time period, however, distrust increased for most institutions and fewer adults selected “don’t know”, indicating that views may have become more defined over time.
The Trust in Public Institutions (2025): Findings from the Scottish Household Survey report provides key findings relating to Trust in Public Institutions in Scotland from the Scottish Household Survey.