Scots are the gloomiest people in the UK when it comes to their views on public services, a new poll has suggested, with more than four out of five people unhappy with the state of roads in the country.  

A new poll has suggested public services will be at the heart of the General Election in July.

The new research carried out this week by Ipsos shows that people across the UK are extremely pessimistic about the recent direction of public services – and people in Scotland are particularly peeved about the state of disrepair of roads.

A total of 84% of people in Scotland have said they are dissatisfied with road maintenance.

READ MORE: Failing public services are influencing voters, especially in Scotland

Only 5% of people said they were satisfied with the roads, while 10% said they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied, and 1% said they didn’t know enough to answer.

The remaining topics covered in the research relating to public service in Scotland included GPs, High Street quality, Libraries, the NHS, transport services, local leisure facilities and 13 other areas.

An estimated 67% of people in Scotland said they were unhappy with the quality of their local high street, while 46% were dissatisfied with NHS hospitals, and 39% were dissatisfied by their General Practice.

The study was based on 516 adults in Scotland who were aged 16 and opver. They were interviewed by the Knowledge Panel of IPSOS between 25 April 2024 and 1 May 2024.

The overall findings of the research found that just 4% of Scots feel that public services as a whole have improved in the last 5 years, compared with 81% who say they have gotten worse – a ‘net’ score of -77, compared with -70 for the UK as a whole.

A more detailed look at satisfaction with individual services shows that there are no services with which over half of people in Scotland are satisfied. The provision of recycling facilities attracts the most satisfaction, with 49% satisfied and 30% dissatisfied, while people in Scotland are particularly negative about the state of our roads, with 84% dissatisfied with road maintenance and just 5% satisfied.

Research Director at Ipsos, Rachel Ormston said: “If 2019 was a ‘Brexit election’, it could be argued that this summer’s unexpected general election is shaping up to be a ‘public services’ election. Opinion polls place public services – especially the NHS, but also education in Scotland in particular – at the top of the public’s list of issues that will shape how they vote on July 4th, well ahead of constitutional issues like Brexit or, in Scotland, independence.

“At a more general level, the Scottish public are highly sceptical that it will be possible to turn around struggling public services in the next 2-3 years – just 11% think it’s likely they will improve in this timeframe (lower than the 17% who said this across the UK as a whole). Even projecting a decade ahead, just 32% of Scots think it’s likely that public services will see improvement in the next 10 years (compared with 42% for the UK as a whole).

“All three of the biggest parties in Scotland face an electorate that appears deeply sceptical that any of them can improve things. And whatever the outcome on July 4th, both the new UK Government and the Scottish Government are going to have their work cut out to turn around both public services, and public opinion ahead of Holyrood elections in 2026.”