Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with an overview of the SPA Public Confidence Polling Report.
To access the full document please open the PDF document above.
To view as accessible content please use the sections below. (Note that tables and some appendixes are not available as accessible content).
Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Policing Performance Committee - 16 March 2023
Date : 16 March 2023
Location : online
Routine Public Polling
There has been significant value to the Authority in undertaking this independent and representative polling to complement a range of external data sources from both Scottish Government and Police Scotland.
Additionally, in this interim period before new Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) results become available, it is important for the Authority to have a consistent time series of data to inform its oversight and scrutiny of Police Scotland.
The Authority has put in place regular independent polling of a representative sample of the Scottish public, with a view to enhancing its understanding of public confidence. This is aligned to the Authority’s vision of policing in the public interest, by providing a sample which is representative of the demographic profile of Scotland. The polling seeks views and levels of confidence in, and support for, policing in Scotland, both in general and related to specific areas of work.
The independent direct polling of the Scottish public will provide the Authority with a better understanding of public trust and confidence and variation in this across the population, by analysing opinion from a broad representation of the demographic profile of the country. Providing these insights, and demonstrating that they have been taken into account in shaping policing practices and activities, also builds awareness and understanding of, and subsequently informs support for, operational policing activity.
This paper presents findings from the second phase of polling carried out during February 2023 and covers views on policing, and the specific subject of policing and mental health. The full report, produced by the Diffley Partnership on behalf of the Authority, can be found as Appendix A.
It should be noted that ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the statistics presented in the analysis.
In total there were 2,662 responses between 31st January and 5th This is a sufficiently large enough sample to be representative of the adult population in Scotland and allow a degree of disaggregation, which is central to upholding the validity of statistical observations and inferences. Data tables are also weighted to make them representative of gender and age.
