National Survey for Wales (monthly survey): August 2020

27% of people have had a GP appointment since April 2020. 81% of those who had a telephone consultation were satisfied with the care received, similar to July. 88% of people who had a face-to-face appointment were satisfied, similar to July.

14% of people have had a hospital appointment since April 2020. In that time, 77% of hospital appointments were face-to-face, similar to July.

31% of people say they are in very good health, and 44% in good health.

4% of people are carers, and 4% are care users. 71% of people who have received social care since the start of April rate support services as excellent or good, a similar level to July 2020 and 2018-19.

14% of people say they think they have had COVID-19 (coronavirus) at some point, a similar level to June and July 2020.

82% of people say they have had an alcoholic drink in the last 12 months. Of these, 18% say they have been drinking more than usual since lockdown, down from 25% who said this in June. 36% say they have been drinking less than usual since lockdown, similar to June.

15% of people say they currently smoke. Of these, 39% have been smoking more than usual in the last 3 months. 19% of smokers have tried to give up smoking in the last 3 months.

18% of adults have used an electronic cigarette at some point. Of these, 28% say they are currently using electronic cigarettes.

15% of people say they cycle at least once a week, similar to July.

87% of people say they have been out for a walk in the last week, similar to July.

56% of people have been active for at least 150 minutes in the previous week, similar to July and to 2019-20. In contrast 29% of people have been active for less than 30 minutes in the previous week, similar to July and to 2019-20.

24% of people say they have done more activity than they did before lockdown, and 34% say they have done less, both similar proportions to July.

52% of people are in paid work, up from 45% in May 2020. 4% are furloughed, down from 8% in July, 9% in June and 11% in May 2020. Of those furloughed, 74% are not yet back to working even part-time.

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6% of households contain someone who is furloughed.

18% say that their economic status has changed since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, down from 25% in July.

Of those currently working, 9% are paid to work 2 to 15 hours a week, 21% for 16 to 30 hours, 62% for 31 to 48 hours, and 5% for 49 or more hours a week.

90% of parents with a primary school-age child say the school is finding ways to support children with learning, a similar level to May, June, and July 2020.

94% of parents with a primary school-age child say they are confident in their own ability to help their child with reading in English; of those, 69% are very confident and 25% are fairly confident. Similarly, 93% of parents are confident in their ability to help with English writing; of those, 67% are very confident and 26% are fairly confident.

35% of parents with a primary school-age child are confident in their ability to help their child with reading in Welsh, and 27% are confident with their ability to help them with writing in Welsh.

80% of parents with a secondary school-age child say the school is finding ways to support children with their learning.

68% of people agree: that they belong to the area, that people from different backgrounds get on well together, and that people treat each other with respect. This is up from 52% in 2018-19.

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22% of people say that coronavirus has caused problems for their household finances.  The figure was similar in May, June and July 2020.

Telephone interviews were carried out with a random sample of people who had previously taken part in the National Survey for Wales face-to-face.  Detailed charts and tables of results are available in our interactive results viewer. For information on data collection and methodology please see our quality report.

National Statistics status

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

All official statistics should comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Statistics. They are awarded National Statistics status following an assessment by the UK Statistics Authority’s regulatory arm. The Authority considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.

It is Welsh Government’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

The continued designation of these statistics as National Statistics was confirmed in June 2020 following a compliance check by the Office for

Statistics Regulation (letter of confirmation). These statistics last underwent a full assessment (full report) against the Code of Practice in 2013.

Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:

• provided more detailed breakdowns in the results viewer and made it easier for users to compare results across years
• updated the survey topics annually to ensure we continue to meet changing policy need
• made regression analysis a standard part of our outputs to help users understand the contribution of particular factors to outcomes of interest

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)

The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before the National Assembly. The 46 national indicators were laid in March 2016. The National Survey collects information for 15 of the 46 indicators.

Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.

Statistician: Scott Armstrong
Telephone: 0300 025 0056
Email: surveys@gov.wales

Media: 0300 025 8099

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SB 29/2020