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Trust in the Scottish Government fell last year – but nearly two thirds of people still believe they work in the country’s best interests “just about always” or “most of the time”.

The 2016 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found trust levels dropped to 65 per cent from 73 per cent in 2015.

It also found 40 per cent of people trusted Nicola Sturgeon and SNP ministers “a great deal” or “quite a lot” to make fair decisions – down by nine percentage points since 2015.

Meanwhile, trust in the UK Government to work in Scotland’s best interests increased slightly – but remained way down at 25 per cent. The figure was 23 per cent in 2015.

The survey found 18 per cent of Scots trusted UK ministers to make fair decisions – unchanged from the previous year.

For the first time, more people thought the Scottish Government had the most influence over the way Scotland is run – 42 per cent held that view, while 41 per cent thought it was the UK Government.

The survey also revealed attitudes towards the economy and the NHS.

Almost a third of those surveyed said helping the economy to grow faster should be the Scottish Government’s top priority.

More than half – 54 per cent – thought the economy had weakened in the past year. Of those, 35 per cent attributed this to UK Government policy, 18 per cent to Scottish Government policy and 37 per cent to “some other reason”.

Most respondents – 60 per cent – were satisfied with the way the NHS was being run, down slightly from 62 per cent in 2015.

More than a third thought standards in the health service had fallen. Of those, 40 per cent attributed this to Westminister policy, 25 per cent to Holyrood policy and 18 per cent to “some other reason”.

The survey is based on interviews with between 1200 and 1700 people from July 11 to December 23 last year.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “It’s clear that the people of Scotland trust the Scottish Government to listen to their views and act fairly and in their best interests.

“Our commitment to being the most open, transparent and accessible government ever is reflected in the survey’s responses.”