Scottish Executive

The term Scottish Executive is used in two different, but closely-related senses: to denote the executive arm of Scotland's national legislature (i.e., the government), but also, somewhat confusingly, to denote the civil service supporting that executive.

Executive arm of the Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Executive (Scottish Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba), as established by the Scotland Act 1998 is the executive arm of the Scottish Parliament, in other words the Scottish Government, a term used both by members of the Scottish Executive and by others (more details below). It consists of a First Minister, who leads the executive, and various ministers with individual portfolios and remits. The Scottish Parliament elects the First Minister and Executive, although any party/parties that can form a majority select the First Minister, who chooses the other members thereafter.

Similar to the United Kingdom-wide form of government there is no division between executive and legislature, with the members of the Scottish Executive being chosen from amongst the Members of the Scottish Parliament (except for the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland, who need not be MSPs). The members of the Scottish Executive are assisted by a number of junior Scottish 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 Executive is currently formed from a coalition between the Labour Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The current First Minister is Jack McConnell.

Ministers

The current Ministers are:

For previous holders of Ministerial office, see List of Scottish Executive Ministerial Teams.

United Kingdom Civil Service in Scotland

The term Scottish Executive is also used to describe the British civil service, as deployed in Scotland (formerly called the Scottish Office). This includes several thousand civil servants. The civil servants who work in the Executive are part of the United Kingdom civil service and work within the rules and customs of that civil service, but "owe their loyalty to the devolved administration rather than the UK government" ^*.

The Scottish Executive is divided into a number of departments:

The Scottish Executive also includes a number of agencies and oversees the work of a large number of Scottish public bodies.

The following figures for staff numbers are given in The 41st Civil Service Year Book (2004):

Communities Scotland: 600

Fisheries Research Services: 270

HM Inspectorate of Education: 160

Historic Scotland: 590

National Archives of Scotland: 120

Scottish Agricultural Science Agency: 130

Scottish Court Service: 850

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency: 260

Scottish Prison Service: 4,430

Scottish Public Pensions Agency: 170

Student Awards Agency for Scotland: 140

Registers of Scotland: 1,260

Permanent Secretary

The Permanent Secretary, who supports the First Minister, Cabinet and Scottish executive, is John Elvidge (since 2003). He is the senior civil servant in Scotland and is head of the management group of the Scottish Executive and of the Scottish Office of the Permanent Secretary (OPS).

Like other permanent secretaries, he is a United Kingdom civil servant and is answerable to the Cabinet Secretary for his professional conduct. He thus has some measure of independence from Scottish ministers, although his primary duty is to execute their instructions, just as other permanent secretaries execute the instructions of United Kingdom ministers.

Arms

The Coat of Arms of the Scottish Executive was adapted from the Royal Arms, but without the motto, the helm, the mantling, the crest, the war-cry above the crest, and the flags of Scotland and of England carried by the supporters. Note also that in the design of the above Arms of the Scottish Executive, both supporters are crowned with the Crown of Scotland, whereas in the Royal Arms, the Scottish unicorn is crowned with the Scottish Crown, and the English Lion is crowned with the British Imperial State Crown

Names

In January 2001, the then Scottish First Minister the Rt Hon Henry McLeish suggested changing the official name from "Scottish Executive" to "Scottish Government". The reaction from the UK Government in London and from some Labour Party members and MPs within Scotland was hostile. story from Telegraph

Any change in formal title would require amendment of the Scotland Act 1998.

"Scottish Government" remains an unofficial term to describe the Scottish Executive. It has no special statutory meaning.

External link

Scottish Executive website

Scottish Executive | Political office-holders in Scotland | Lists of government ministers of Scotland | 1999 establishments