Further Detail on Methodology and Findings

This report (with detail in Appendix 1) provides the Authority with the results of public polling carried out in early August 2025 as part of the routine quarterly polling series. The report also contains key insights and compares the latest polling results with previous waves of polling, conducted using the previous contract. This is the first sweep of polling under the new contract with the Diffley Partnership.

The three core questions on trust, confidence and policing performance have been streamlined, based on how the questions were being responded to over the period 2022-25. Notably, the two core questions on trust and confidence now include a definition of what the Authority means by the terms trust and confidence, with question-wording revised slightly. We believe that this has helped to reduce the proportion of people answering the two questions with “Don’t Know” responses, however it does mean that care must be taken when making comparisons with responses given in previous waves of polling i.e. those which pre-date August 2025.

The latest polling activity ran between 1st and 5th August, with 2,271 people aged 16 or more completing the survey via the ScotPulse platform. The sample has been weighted during analysis to ensure representativeness with the structure of the Scottish population by age and gender.

The main characteristics of the unweighted sample are as follows:

• 54% of respondents are female, 46% male
• 14% of respondents are aged 16-34, 16% 35-44, 16% 45-54, 25% 55-64 and 29% 65+
• 57% of respondents are from Social Grades ABC1, 43% from Social Grades C2DE
• 15% of respondents live in areas classed as SIMD 1 (most deprived quintile). 17% in SIMD 2, 22% in SIMD 3, 23% in SIMD 4, and 22% in SIMD 5 (least deprived quintile).
• 80% of respondents live in areas classed as urban, 19% in areas classed as rural
• In terms of regional representation, 16% of respondents live in North East Scotland, 14% in Central Scotland, 13% in Lothian, 12% in West Scotland, Mid-Scotland and Fife, and South Scotland, and 11% in Glasgow and Highlands and Islands.

The following key insights, using weighted data, are expanded upon within Diffley’s main report, which includes insights based on demographic, social and geographic variances (see Appendix 1):

Confidence in the Police

Overall levels of confidence in the police remain largely unchanged in August 2025 compared with January 2025, scoring 5.7 out of 10. 43% of respondents report high confidence in the police (up from 37% in January, and up from 41% in August 2024). Less than one-fifth of respondents report having low confidence in the police.

The question used in August 2025 now includes a definition of what the Authority means by confidence, which we believe is responsible for reducing the number of ‘Don’t Know’ responses (which have fallen to 4%, down from 7% in January 2025 and August 2024).

The question on confidence is now posed as:

How much confidence do you have in the police in Scotland?

By confidence, we mean how strongly you believe that Scotland’s police officers will be capable and effective if you called them, for example, to investigate a crime, to tackle a crime in your area, or to respond to your 999/101 call.

Please answer on a scale of 0-10, where 0 is ‘No confidence at all’ and 10 is ‘Complete confidence’,

SCALE: 0-10, Don’t Know, Not Applicable

Trust in the Police

Trust in the police also remains strong (6.4 out of 10 overall) and has risen, with 83% of respondents having high or medium trust in the police in Scotland (compared with 72% of respondents in January 2024 and 73% in August 2024).

We believe that the inclusion of a definition of what the Authority means by trust in the police has helped to reduce the number of “don’t know” responses considerably. Only 2% of respondents say they ‘don’t know’ in August 2025, down from 7% in January 2025 and August 2024.

The question on trust is now posed as:

How much trust do you have in the police in Scotland?
By trust, we mean how strongly you believe that Scotland’s police officers will treat you professionally, respectfully and fairly if you were to have contact with them.

Please answer on a scale of 0-10, where 0 is ‘No trust at all’ and 10 is ‘Complete trust’.

SCALE: 0-10, Don’t Know, Not Applicable

Views on Police Performance

Regarding aspects of police performance, 35% of respondents rate the police as doing a good job at keeping their local community safe. Around one-third of respondents also said that the police are doing a good job when it comes to responding appropriately to 999/101 calls, protecting vulnerable people, and investigating crimes (although the proportion of ‘Don’t Know’ responses ranges from 17% to 27%, which is to be expected as many people will not feel able to express a view on police performance unless they have experienced or witnessed policing services in a direct way).

A large proportion of respondents (48%) rate the police as performing poorly at reducing crime and antisocial behaviour, which is in contrast with the views expressed on keeping their local community safe. Authority staff and the Diffley Partnership will monitor this closely in coming waves of polling with a view to conducting a deeper dive on aggregated datasets to examine the characteristics of respondents who rate police performance differently on these two similar aspects of policing.

The question being used to monitor the public’s view on police performance has been streamlined compared with previous waves of polling, and now reads as:

How good or poor a job do you think the police in Scotland are doing at the moment in the following regards?

RANDOMISE

• Reducing crime and antisocial behaviour
• Keeping your local community safe
• Investigating and solving crimes
• Responding appropriately to 999/101 calls
• Protecting and supporting vulnerable people

SCALE: A very good job, A somewhat good job, A neither good nor poor job, A somewhat poor job, A very poor job, Don’t know