I was lucky enough to be in Scotland last week and to experience the emotion and engagement of nearly every part of Scottish society in the independence referendum. The run up to the vote provoked unprecedented levels of debate about identity, culture and the future of a nation. The 85% turnout to vote was the highest we’ve seen in a long time and a level not seen in a UK general election since 1950, when 83.9% voted.
But where do we go from here? It’s unlikely that the ‘no’ vote means that the independence question will go away. And it’s not just the Scots who are debating it now. The thought of Scotland leaving the union has prompted questions about identity and independence for the UK’s other nations, as well as the issue of how we all get along together.
For those of us involved with the third sector, there is also the question of how it affects charities. nfpSynergy’s research shows that there are some things that are consistent across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. This begins with donations, as women, older people and worshippers are more likely to donate and higher social grades and older people tend to give more.
Donation levels have historically been higher in the Republic of Ireland, even during a recession that bit much deeper there than in the UK. However, in the last year or so we have seen similar donation levels in England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland at around 72%-75%.
There are also similarities in public trust. When we ask about specific institutions, there are some that all the nations have high levels of trust in, such as the police. There are also some with consistently low levels, such as banks, the government and insurance companies.
However, the interesting bit is where we start to see differences in trust. There are some areas that appear obvious; the royal family is much more trusted in England and Wales at 57% than in Scotland at 42%, while the armed forces enjoy levels of 71% in England and Wales but only 57% in Northern Ireland.
There are other areas where local concerns, policy developments and events have made a difference. Schools score highly in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in comparison to Great Britain, while the NHS has the widest range of trust with 53% in Northern Ireland compared to 73% in Scotland.
Charities also come into this same category of differing levels of trust. They score highest in Northern Ireland at 70%, followed by 62% in Scotland, but appear lower in England & Wales at 56%. The recent charity scandals have caused trust to fall to 51% in the Republic of Ireland. Trust is at the heart of the relationship between charities, donors and beneficiaries and we can learn from the situation in Ireland just how easily it can be damaged.
We have discussed the implications of Scottish independence for the voluntary sector in other research like Walking the Tightrope, which uses our data from the general public and MSPs in Scotland. While there is no immediate prospect of independence in Scotland, the similarities and differences between all the nations of the UK, how they view charities and how they want to engage with them becomes increasingly interesting.
If devolvement of powers to a local level, national identity and localism are going to grow, we need to make sure that as a sector we are part of that discussion and respond to the need.
If you would like to find out more about public or political research in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, please get in touch. We regularly carry out research in all of them and we’d love to show you how we could help. You can contact us on insight@nfpsynergy.net or 020 7426 8888.
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