Scottish Government
The Scottish Government (Scottish Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba) is the executive arm of government in Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive - which remains its legal title under Section 44 of the Scotland Act 1998 - but its name was changed by the incoming Scottish National Party administration following the 2007 Scottish general election.
The primary office of the government is at St Andrew's House, on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. Some departments are based at Victoria Quay in Leith, Pentland House in Gorgie and Chambers Street in central Edinburgh. The Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department is located in central Glasgow, and its European Union office is located at Rond-point Schuman in Brussels, Belgium.
Several executive agencies also form part of the government, and the accountable officers of these agencies report to Scottish Ministers.
Executive arm of government
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The Scottish Government is responsible for all issues that are not explicitly reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament at Westminster by the Scotland Act; including NHS Scotland, education, justice, rural affairs, and transport. It managed an annual budget of more than £27 billion in the financial year 2005-2006; this is due to rise to over £30 billion in 2007-2008.[1]
It consists of a First Minister, who leads the Government, and various ministers with individual portfolios and remits. The Scottish Parliament nominates a member to be appointed as First Minister by the Queen. The First Minister then appoints ministers and junior ministers, subject to approval by the Parliament. The First Minister, ministers (but not junior ministers), the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are the members of the Scottish Executive, as set out in the Scotland Act 1998. They are collectively known as "the Scottish Ministers".
Similar to the United Kingdom government, there is no division between the executive and the legislative arms of government, with the members of the Scottish Executive being chosen from amongst the Members of the Scottish Parliament (except for the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General, who need not be MSPs). The members of the Scottish Executive are assisted by a number of junior ministers, also chosen from amongst the Members of the Parliament. The members of the Executive are therefore able to influence, and in practice dictate legislation in Scotland.
The Scottish Government is currently formed by the Scottish National Party who are the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, although they do not possess an overall majority. The current First Minister is Alex Salmond.
Ministers
The structure of the ministerial team proposed by the Scottish National Party (SNP) after their election victory in May 2007 differs from the previous administration. The nomenclature of Cabinet Secretaries has been introduced. The Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers are:[2]
Ministers must follow the Scottish Ministerial Code, a code of conduct and guidance on procedures.
Cabinet
The Scottish Cabinet normally meets weekly on Tuesday afternoons at Bute House, in Charlotte Square, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland. The Cabinet consists of the Scottish Ministers, excluding the Law Officers (the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General). The Lord Advocate attends meetings of the Cabinet but is not formally a member.[3]
The Cabinet is supported by the Cabinet Secretariat, which is based at St Andrew's House.
There are two sub-committees of Cabinet-
- Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation
- Membership: the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, the Minister for Parliamentary Business, and the Lord Advocate.
- Scottish Executive Emergency Room Cabinet Sub-Committee
- Membership: Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Chair), the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Lord Advocate.
United Kingdom Civil Service in Scotland
The term Scottish Government also denotes the civil service supporting Scottish Ministers. According to the most recent (2006) reports, there are 15,263 civil servants working in core Scottish Government departments and agencies.[4] The civil service is a matter reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament (rather than devolved to Holyrood): Scottish Government civil servants work within the rules and customs of the United Kingdom civil service, but "owe their loyalty to the devolved administration rather than the UK government".[5]
Other civil servants based in Scotland carry out functions which are not the responsibility of the Scottish Government, for example those in the Ministry of Defence.
Until 2007, the (then) Scottish Executive was made up of 9 Departments, as set out below.
- Office of the Permanent Secretary
- Development Department
- Education Department
- Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
- Environment and Rural Affairs Department
- Finance and Central Services Department
- Health Department
- Justice Department
- Legal and Parliamentary Services
In 2007 the separate Departments were abolished and the work is now carried out by a number of Directorates, each headed by a Director (see Civil Service grading schemes). The Permanent Secretary and Directors-General (formerly the Department heads) now form a Strategic Board, responsible for overseeing the achievement of the 5 strategic objectives.
There are also 17 Executive Agencies established by Ministers as part of government departments, or as departments in their own right, to carry out a discrete area of work. These include the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency, Scottish Prison Service and Transport Scotland. Agencies are staffed by civil servants.
Two non-Ministerial departments answer directly to Parliament rather than to Ministers:
The Scottish Government is also responsible for a large number of Non-Departmental Public Bodies. These include executive bodies (eg. Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and sportscotland); advisory bodies (eg. the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the Scottish Industrial Development Advisory Board and the Scottish Law Commission); tribunals (eg. the Children’s Panel); and nationalised industries (eg. Scottish Water).
Strategic Objectives
In 2007, the Scottish Ministers set for themselves an overall purpose-
- "To focus Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth."
This overall purpose is supported by 5 strategic objectives-
- Wealthier and Fairer : Enable businesses and people to increase their wealth and more people to share fairly in that wealth.
- Healthier : Help people to sustain and improve their health, especially in disadvantaged communities, ensuring better, local and faster access to health care.
- Safer and Stronger : Help local communities to flourish, becoming stronger, safer place to live, offering improved opportunities and a better quality of life.
- Smarter : Expand opportunities for Scots to succeed from nurture through to life long learning ensuring higher and more widely shared achievements.
- Greener : Improve Scotland's natural and built environment and the sustainable use and enjoyment of it.
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent Secretary supports the First Minister and Cabinet of Scottish Ministers. The current incumbent is Sir John Elvidge who took over from Sir Muir Russell in 2003. John Elvidge is the most senior civil servant in Scotland and heads the Strategic Board of the Scottish Executive.
The Permanent Secretary is answerable to the most senior civil servant in the UK, the Cabinet Secretary, for his professional conduct.
2007 rebranding
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In January 2001, the then First Minister Henry McLeish suggested changing the official name of the executive arm from "Scottish Executive" to "Scottish Government". The reaction from the UK Government and from some Labour Party members and Scottish Labour MPs was hostile.[6]
Following the 2007 election politicians from throughout the political spectrum referred to the new administration as the Scottish government and on September 2 2007 the government announced that the Scottish Executive was to be re-branded as the Scottish Government. The renaming was decided unilaterally by the minority government; as a consequence the SNP was criticised by the 3 Unionist opposition parties for acting without allowing for parliamentary scrutiny, debate or approval of their plan. The rebranding process has been reported to carry a £100 000 cost.[7]
"Scottish Executive" remains the legal name according to the language of the Scotland Act 1998[8]. Neither the Scottish Executive nor the Scottish Parliament is able to change the legal name, as this would require an alteration to the Scotland Act.
At the same time that the Scottish Government began to use its new name, a new logo was adopted. The earlier version featured the old name and a version of the Royal Arms for Scotland, but without the motto, the helm, the mantling, the crest, the war-cry above the crest, or the flags of Scotland and England carried by the supporters. In the rendering used, both supporters appeared to be crowned with the Crown of Scotland, whereas in the Royal Arms, the Scottish unicorn is usually shown crowned with the Scottish Crown, and the English lion with the British Imperial State Crown.
In the September 2007 rebranding, this depiction of the Royal Arms was replaced by one of the flag of Scotland.
References
- ^ About the Scottish Executive, scotland.gov.uk
- ^ FM nominates his cabinet, Scottish Executive, 16 May 2007
- ^ Scottish Cabinet-related Information, Scottish Executive website
- ^ theherald.co.uk
- ^ FAQ, scotland.gov.uk
- ^ telegraph.co.uk
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6974798.stm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6974798.stm
See also
- Government of Scotland
- Joint Ministerial Committee
- Local income tax
- Scottish Broadcasting Commission
- Talking Scotland
External links
- Official website
- The Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive - Roles and Responsibilities, Scottish Parliament website
- Scottish Parliament & Scottish Executive, Scotland Office website
- articles regarding the Scottish Executive, The Scotsman newspaper
- directory of Scottish Executive websites, Glasgow University Library
- InfoScotland, information on Scottish Executive campaigns
- Clearing the air, a Scottish Executive website on the ban on smoking in public places
- Scotland is the Place - Welcome to the best small country in the world, a Scottish Executive website aiming to attract people to move to, or move back to, Scotland
- Scotland's health on the web - online health information provided by NHS Scotland, a Scottish Executive website run by NHS National Services Scotland
- Tartan Day in America, a Scottish Executive website promoting Tartan Day in the United States
- scottish-property.gov.uk, website listing properties advertised for sale by the Scottish Executive and other participating government bodies
- Junior Exec - the official government kids site for Scotland, an external website supported by the Scottish Executive