Trust in government, UK: 2023

• People in the UK trust non-political institutions, such as the judicial system, police and civil service, more than the national and devolved governments, Parliament and political parties.

• Around half of people in the UK had accessed an administrative service, for example, applying for a passport or benefits in the last year; satisfaction with administrative services was generally higher than with the health and education systems in the UK.

• The integrity of politicians and officials was an important driver of trust, with most people stating that officials abiding by the same rules as everybody else was a factor in how much they trust the national government.

• A majority of people in the UK had participated in a political activity in the past year, most commonly voting in a recent local election, and most agreed that the general public should be able to vote directly on issues of national importance in a referendum.

• Just under half of people said they had little to no confidence in their own ability to participate in politics, and two-thirds had little or no confidence that they have a say on the decisions made by the government.

• Two-thirds of people said that the cost of living was one of the three most important issues facing the UK, and three-quarters were concerned about their own household's finances and overall economic well-being.

This release contains data from the Trust in Government Survey. The survey was undertaken by the Office for National Statistics on behalf of the Cabinet Office and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey was run in 30 countries and the full international dataset will be published by the OECD in summer 2024.

The majority (70%) of people in the UK reported that, in general, they trust most people.

Of the institutions asked about in the survey, the courts and judicial system were the most trusted, with nearly two-thirds (62%) stating that they trust these institutions (Figure 1).

The most trusted parts of government were the national and regional civil service, with 45% and 42% of people, respectively, saying they trusted these institutions. A third (34%) trusted local government and a quarter (27%) trusted the UK government. Parliament, including both the House of Commons and House of Lords, and the political parties were the least trusted, with 24% and 12% trusting, respectively.

Devolved administrations

In the last 12 months, 9 in 10 people, or somebody in their household, had made use of the healthcare system, while just under half (46%) had accessed an administrative service, for example, applying for a passport or benefits. Around one-quarter (26%) of people, or someone in their household, had been enrolled in an educational institution in the last two years.

Satisfaction with administrative services in the UK was generally higher than for education and health systems (Figure 2), and most (58%) felt that it was likely they would be treated fairly when applying for a government benefit or service.

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of people said that officials abiding by the same rules as everyone else influences how much they trust the national government, while 59% said policies balancing the interests of current and future generations influence how much they trust the government.

Half (50%) of people said that the government competently carrying out its tasks was a factor in how much they trust the government, and a similar proportion (49%) said that engaging citizens was a contributing factor.

The OECD has identified five public governance drivers that can influence trust in government institutions: integrity, responsiveness, reliability, openness and fairness. People were asked to report how well the UK government and institutions perform against the OECD's five drivers, and to select factors that impact their level of trust.

The majority (78%) of people in the UK had participated in at least one political activity in the last year (Figure 3), participating in an average of two activities. Three-quarters of people (73%) felt that the public should be able to vote in referendums on issues of national importance.

One in five people (21%) said they had not taken part in any of the political activities in the last year, and nearly half (44%) said they had little or no confidence in their ability to participate in politics. Most people (63%) had little or no confidence that they have a say in what the government does.

Two-thirds (63%) of people said that the cost of living was one of the top three most important issues facing the UK (Figure 4). Nearly three-quarters (73%) of people said they were concerned about their household’s finances and overall economic well-being.

Just over a quarter (28%) said climate change was one of the three most important issues. A third (35%) of people were confident that the UK will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next 10 years.

Civil service

Non-elected government employees.

Devolved administrations

National governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

OECD

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation that promotes economic growth, trade and cooperation among its member countries.

UK government

The UK government consists of the Prime Minister and government ministers.

This release contains data from the Trust in Government Survey. The survey was undertaken in the UK by the Office for National Statistics on behalf of the Cabinet Office and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey was run in 30 countries and the full international dataset will be published by the OECD in summer 2024.

The survey was completed online between 27 September and 23 October 2023. In a small number of cases (1.7%) the respondent completed the survey over the telephone with an ONS telephone operator.

Sampling and weighting

A total of 4,135 adults (aged 18 years or over) living in the UK were sampled and invited to complete the survey. These were selected from those who had previously completed the Labour Force Survey, for those living in Great Britain. For those living in Northern Ireland, addresses were sampled from an address file provided by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The responding sample was 1,919 individuals, representing a 46% response rate.

These were selected from those who had previously completed the Labour Force Survey, for those living in Great Britain. For those living in Northern Ireland, addresses were sampled from an address file provided by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). 

Survey weights were applied to make the estimates representative of the UK population.

Uncertainty

View more information on how we measure and communicate uncertainty for our surveys.

Average trust and satisfaction scores

Survey respondents were asked how much they trust a range of public institutions, as well as people in general. Trust questions were answered on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being "not at all" and 10 being "completely". Responses were grouped into three categories: trust (scores of 6 to 10), neutral (score of 5) and do not trust (scores of 0 to 4).

Average trust and satisfaction scores represent the mean score for all respondents who gave an answer between 0 and 10. This is the sum of all scores, divided by the number of respondents who provided a score.

Quality

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Trust in Government Survey Quality and Methodology Information.