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Technical Note: Improve the responsiveness of public services

Improve the responsiveness of public services

DESCRIPTION:

Percentage of respondents who agree with the statement 'I can influence decisions affecting my local area' as measured by the Scottish Household Survey.

SOURCE:

The figures for this indicator come from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) which is a National Statistics product. Scottish Government are the owners of the data.

The data are published in the Scottish Household Survey Annual Report, which is published annually in August via www.gov.scot/SHSAnnualReport.

The percentage of adults who strongly or tend to agree with the following statement:

'I can influence decisions affecting my local area'.

The options are:

  • Strongly agree
  • Tend to agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Tend to disagree
  • Strongly disagree
  • No opinion

Results at local authority level are available annually for the larger local authorities and every two years for the smaller local authorities.

From January 2012, a new Scottish Household Survey (SHS) went in to the field which had a substantially restructured sample design and integrated the previous Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS). The new survey uses a fully unclustered core and modular structure with some questions being asked of the full sample and others of a one-third sub-sample. The overall sample size has reduced from around 14,000 household interviews to about 11,000 though improvements in efficiency of the survey design mean it will be possible to attain local authority estimates on an annual basis where analysis permits. While the overall sample size of the survey has reduced, the survey design improvements has meant that the precision of estimates have not been affected significantly.

The question on disability was changed in quarter 4 of 2012 which has resulted in a break in the time-series for neighbourhood rating and disability from 2013 onwards.  The disaggregation tables include the old time series (from 1999 to Q3 2012) and also a new table with the new question.  From 2013 two questions are now asked:

(1) Do you have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?

(2) If yes, to what extend does your condition or illness reduce your ability to carry out day to day activities.

Further information can be obtained from: http://www.gov.scot/SHSMethodology

DEFINITIONS:

Responsiveness is the extent to which services are designed around the needs of the individual. It relies upon organisations having mechanisms in place for people, particularly users of services, to communicate with service provides and to be heard so that their ideas can go into the redesign of more tailored services.

BASELINE AND PAST TRENDS:

The baseline year is 2007 as this data point is the closest to the start of the first term of the current administration. The baseline figure is 19.6%.

Percentage of respondents who agreed with the statement 'I can influence decisions affecting my local area'

Year

% of people who agree with the statement 'I can influence decisions affecting my local area'

2007

19.6%

2008

21.7%

2009

21.8%

2010

21.3%

2011

22.4%

2012

21.5%

2013

22.0%

2014

23.0%

2015

23.6%

2016

23.1%

CRITERIA FOR RECENT CHANGE ARROW:

This evaluation is based on: any difference within +/- 1.3 percentage point of last year's figure suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change. An increase of 1.3 percentage point or more suggests the position is improving; whereas a decrease of 1.3 percentage point or more suggests the position is worsening.

Please note that the criteria for this indicator changed before the 2014 data point was assessed. This was because, using Scottish Household Survey data where the figure is around the 20th percentile, a change of around 1.3 percentage points is likely to be statistically significant and not due to sampling error. Given this, the Technical Assessment Group decided that a threshold of 1.3 percentage point is more appropriate for this indicator than the previous threshold of 1 percentage point. Had the criteria not been changed current performance would have been assessed as improving.

For information on general methodological approach, please click here.

FUTURE ISSUES OR REVIEWS:

No issues.

ASSOCIATED TARGET:

No associated target.