The economy and health are seen as the most important issues facing Scotland
- Scots are most likely to see the economy (47%) and health (45%) as top issues facing the country, with 36% seeing immigration as one of the most important issues facing Scotland
- SNP voters are more likely to see Brexit as a top issue for Scotland (37%) than immigration (26%)
- Many Scots misidentify whether the UK or Scottish Governments are responsible for particular policy areas
- 48% of Scots say their household finances have worsened in the last year
- A small majority of Scottish people (53%) believe there has been too much immigration into Scotland in the last decade
- Scottish Conservative and Reform UK voters are significantly more likely to see climate change concerns as exaggerated than their English counterparts
With next May’s elections to the Scottish Parliament growing ever closer, new YouGov polling reveals what Scots see as the top issues facing Scotland.
What are the most important issues facing Scotland, December 2025?
The economy and health are seen as the top issues facing Scotland, with nearly half of Scots (45-47%) seeing either as one of the three most important problems facing the country. Immigration and asylum comes in third, with 36% of Scots viewing it as one of the biggest issues facing Scotland at this time.
While this is the same top three issues as among Britons as a whole, immigration is noticeably less likely to be seen as a key issue in Scotland than in the rest of Britain, while health is more likely to be seen as one of the most pressing matters.
Around a quarter of Scots (24%) see housing as one of the most important issues facing Scotland, while one in six (18%) place Brexit in the same category. Crime, education and welfare benefits are each seen as top issues for 15% of Scots, with the environment and tax being seen as one of Scotland’s biggest issues by 13%.
Although Scotland’s constitutional future has often loomed large over Scottish politics in recent times, just 12% of Scots see it as one of the most important issues facing Scotland at the moment.
The economy and health are in the top three issues among Scots who backed either the SNP (45-46% seeing either as one of the most important issues facing Scotland), Labour (49-55%) or the Conservatives (48-51%) at last year’s general election.
Immigration, however, proves more divisive. While 59% of Conservative voters see it as a top issue, this falls to 33% of Labour voters and just 26% of SNP voters. Indeed, those who backed the SNP in last year’s general election are more likely to see Brexit as a top issue facing Scotland (37% doing so), with Scotland’s constitutional future (31%) and housing (24%) rivalling immigration’s position among them.
A similar quarter of 2024 Scottish Labour voters (25%) see housing as one of the top issues facing Scotland, compared to 15% of Scottish Conservatives.
Relative to SNP voters, Scots who voted Conservative in 2024 are more likely to view welfare benefits (23% vs 13%), education (23% vs 11%) or crime (19% vs 6%) as one of the biggest issues facing Scotland, while SNP voters are more likely than Conservatives to say so of the environment (18% vs 1%).
Which government do Scots see as responsible for key policy areas?
Of course, not all of these issues are devolved to Scotland, with some, such as immigration, being ‘reserved matters’ on which only Westminster can legislate, and others, including taxation or transport, only being partially devolved. Nonetheless, it is likely that some reserved areas will still influence how some Scots vote next May, if not in part because which government is responsible for particular policy areas isn’t always clear.
Of the devolved areas polled, only education is seen as being largely or entirely the responsibility of the Scottish government by a clear majority of Scots (59%), though roughly half (47-51%) place housing, and crime and policing in this category too.
More than four in ten Scots (43%) correctly see the NHS as primarily being the responsibility of Holyrood, though 23% believe responsibility is equally shared with Westminster and an additional 23% view the London government as largely or entirely in control of the issue.
The environment, which is officially a devolved matter, even if not fully in practice, is seen as being solely or entirely the responsibility of Holyrood by 26% of Scots and of Westminster by 24%, while 35% see both governments as equally sharing the issue.
Reserved matters of defence and immigration are seen as being mostly or wholly the responsibility of the UK government by 68% and 61% of Scots respectively. Just 40% see questions of Scotland’s constitutional future as being in this category, with 25% seeing this as Holyrood’s domain and 20% viewing it as an equally shared matter.
Among the partially devolved matters polled, the economy is most likely to be seen as Westminster’s responsibility (52% doing so), while transport is most likely to be seen as under Holyrood’s control (47%).
Notably, SNP voters are typically more likely than those for other major parties to see key policy areas as being primarily the domain of the Westminster government, and often less likely to see them as being within the powers of the SNP government at Holyrood.
For instance, while 64% of 2024 SNP voters see the UK government as entirely or mostly responsible for the economy, this is true of 54% of Scots who voted Conservative in last year’s general election and just 45% of those who voted Labour.
And although 61% of Conservatives and 56% of Labour voters see the Scottish Government as being largely or entirely in charge of Scotland’s crime and policing policies, just 44% of SNP voters do the same.
The greatest divergence is over poverty. While 2024 Conservative and Labour voters are more likely to see the Scottish Government as primarily responsible for the issue (38-41%) than the UK Government (15-19%), those who voted SNP last year are roughly twice as likely to see the area as being Westminster’s responsibility (40%) than Holyrood’s (18%).
Do Scots think their finances are getting better or worse?
Nearly half of Scots (48%) say the financial situation of their household has got worse over the last 12 months, relative to 38% who believe it’s stayed the same and only 10% who feel their household finances have improved over the last year.
Scots aren’t any more positive about 2026, with just 12% anticipating their household’s finances improving, while 48% expect them to worsen. A further 34% expect their finances to stay about the same.
What do Scots think about current levels of taxing and spending?
The Scottish public are more likely to believe that the government taxes too much and spends too much on services (36%) than believe that current levels of taxing and spending are too low (28%). A further 11% of Scots feel they get the balance about right.
Scottish Reform UK and Conservative voters are the most likely to feel the government is taxing and spending too much, with 66-73% doing so, while SNP voters are more likely to feel that current levels of taxing and spending are too low (42%) than too high (23%).
Scottish Labour and Lib Dem voters are near evenly split, with 31% believing the government is taxing and spending too little on services and similar numbers (30-34%) believing current levels are too much.
What do Scots think about recent levels of immigration?
A small majority of Scots (53%) believe that the level of immigration into Scotland over the last decade has been too high, compared to 24% who feel recent levels have been about right and just 9% who think recent levels of immigration have been too low.
Reform UK voters are the most likely to feel that immigration into Scotland has been too high, with 91% doing so, alongside 83% of Conservative voters. Most 2024 Scottish Labour voters (55%) feel the same, with just 26% feeling recent levels have been about right.
SNP voters are more supportive of recent immigration, with just over half (52%) believing that levels over the last decade have either been about right (35%) or too low (17%). Nonetheless, 36% of those who backed the SNP last year feel recent immigration into Scotland has been too high.
Nonetheless, while many Scots feel there has been too much immigration into the country in recent years, this is significantly lower than the rate among the wider British public.
What do Scots think about climate change?
More than six in ten Scots (63%) accept the scientific consensus on climate change, believing that concerns are not exaggerated. This compares to 23% of the public believing that the threat outlined by most scientists has been at least overstated.
Reform UK voters are the biggest outliers here, with 73% of their Scottish voters believing the threat is not as real as scientists have claimed. Scottish Conservatives are more divided on the question, with 47% believing the threat is exaggerated and 37% believing it is not.
By contrast, 70-77% of SNP, Labour and Lib Dem voters believe the threat is every bit as a real as scientists have said.
Although the overall proportion of Scots believing that concerns about climate change have been exaggerated is little different to those in England (23% vs 22%), this is not the case when comparing Scottish voters with their English counterparts by party supported in 2024.
The nearly half of Scottish Conservatives who believe the threat is exaggerated compares to just 29% of English Conservative voters, with Reform UK voters in Scotland likewise more likely to doubt the scientific consensus than those in England (73% vs 56%). The difference is smaller among Labour voters, but this view is still more common among their Scottish voters than those south of the border (18% vs 8%).
What do Scots think about the current state of devolution?
Just 19% of Scots believe that the right level of powers are currently devolved to the Scottish parliament and government, with twice as many (38%) believing that not enough powers have yet been devolved from Westminster to Holyrood.
Appetite for a reduction in devolution is more limited, with only 8% of Scots believing there should be no devolution at all and 10% believing there should be devolution, but with fewer powers than at present.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, SNP voters are the most in favour of further autonomy, with 82% of those who backed the party in 2024 believing not enough powers are currently devolved.
Scottish Labour voters are largely divided between the 29% who feel not enough powers are devolved and the 29% who feel the current level of devolution is about right, while Scottish Conservatives are split three ways between those who feel there should be no devolution at all (27%), that there should be devolution but with fewer powers (26%) and that the status quo is about right (24%).
YouGov’s most recent Scottish independent referendum voting intention can be found here.
How do Scots feel about public services in their local area?
Scots tend to feel that public services in their local area are in a good state, with belief that NHS services near them are good exceeding belief they’re bad by 53% to 41%, about their schools in their area by 53% to 24%, and about the police in their area by 47% to 37%.
SNP voters are consistently more positive about the state of their local services, while Scots who backed Reform UK last year are the most negative about key services in their area, with 48% rating their local schools as bad, 57% seeing their local police service as poor and 71% feeling that NHS services near them are in a bad way.
See the full results here and here
Interested in taking YouGov surveys? What do you think are the most important issues facing Scotland? What do you think about Scottish politics in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Interested in commissioning YouGov research? We connect in real-time with real people around the world to gather their thoughts, behaviours, and opinions, to ensure that our research data is powered by reality. Explore our survey services here.
Photo: Getty
