Description:
This indicator measures the proportion of adults who live within a 5 minute walk of their nearest green or blue space.
Source of Data:
The figures for this indicator come from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) which is a National Statistics product produced by the Scottish Government. The data are published in the Scottish Household Survey Annual Report, which is published annually via Scottish Household Survey: publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).
The participants in the survey are asked how far the nearest public green or open space is from their home and how long they think it would take the interviewer to walk there. The indicator is the percentage of those who responded that they lived within a 5 minute walk of their nearest green or blue space, based on the number responding to the question throughout the year.
For 2020 and 2021, data was collected by telephone and video as Covid-19 restrictions were in place at that time. For 2022 face-to-face interviewing was resumed. This change to methodology means that 2020 and 2021 figures are not comparable with other years and so are excluded from the time series.
Definitions:
Adults are people resident in Scotland aged 16 and over.
Green and blue space
Information on access to green and blue spaces is provided in response to a question in the Scottish Household Survey which asks about ‘public green or open spaces in your local area, for example a park, countryside, wood, play area, canal path, riverside or beach’.
In 2019 for one half of the sample the question wording was changed slightly from “green or open spaces” to “green, blue or open spaces” to check if including the word “blue” made any difference to the response given. No statistically significant difference was found. The wording “green, blue or open spaces” was therefore used for subsequent years.
Criteria for Change:
This evaluation is based on:
- Any change between 2019 and 2022 which is not statistically significant suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change.
- An increase which is statistically significant suggests the position is improving.
- A decrease which is statistically significant suggests the position is worsening.
Future issues or reviews:
For 2019 and earlier years the following criteria was used:
- Any change within +/- 2 per cent of last year's figure suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change.
- An increase of 2 per cent or more suggests the position is improving.
- A decrease of 2 per cent or more suggests the position is worsening.
It is expected that this criteria will be used again when 2023 data are available, subject to the views of the National Performance Framework Technical Advisory Group.