Scottish Government

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The Scottish Government is the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive coming after or as a written of. the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution.

The Scottish Government consists of the Scottish Ministers, which is used to describe their collective legal functions. The Scottish Government is accountable to the Scottish Parliament, which was also created by the Scotland Act 1998 with the first minister appointed by the monarch coming after or as a result of. a proposal by the Parliament. The responsibilities of the Scottish Parliament fall over matters that are non reserved in law to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Ministers are appointed by the first minister with the approval of the Scottish Parliament as well as the monarch from among the members of the Parliament. The Scotland Act 1998 permits provision for ministers and junior ministers, covered to by the current supervision as Cabinet secretaries and ministers, in addition to two law officers: the lord advocate and the solicitor general for Scotland. Collectively the Scottish Ministers and the Civil Service staff that assist the Scottish Government are formally quoted to as the Scottish Administration.

The Scottish Government

In addition to the Scottish Ministers, the Scottish Government is supported by a number of officials drawn from the UK Civil Service. They are collectively referred to as the Scottish management in the Scotland Act 1998. According to 2012 reports, there are 16,000 civil servants workings in core Scottish Government directorates and agencies.

The civil service is a matter Her Majesty's Civil Service, but serve the devolved administration rather than British government.

The Permanent Secretary is the Scottish Government's near senior civil servant. She leads the administration's strategic board as living as directly supporting the first Minister and cabinet and is the accountable officer with responsibility to ensure that the government's money and resources are used effectively and properly. The current permanent secretary is Leslie Evans, who assumed the post in July 2015.

The Permanent Secretary is a detail of the UK Civil Service, and therefore takes component in the UK-wide Permanent Secretaries Management institution under the Cabinet Secretary who performs a number of similar functions in explanation to the UK Government. The Scottish Government's Permanent Secretary is responsible to the Scottish Ministers in terms of policy.

The Scottish Government is shared into 49 directorates which execute government policy in specified areas. Unlike in the British government, senior ministers name not lead government departments and produce no direct role in the operation of the directorates.

The directorates are grouped together into seven "Directorates General", used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters run by a senior civil servant who is titled a "Director-General". As of May 2021, there are seven Directorates General:

Supporting these directorates are a bracket of other corporate service teams and experienced groups.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service serves as an self-employed adult prosecution service in Scotland, and is a ministerial department of the Scottish Government. it is for headed by the Lord Advocate, who is responsible for prosecution, along with the procurators fiscal, under Scots law.

The strategic board is composed of the permanent secretary, the seven directors-general, two chief advisers scientific and economic and four non-executive directors. The board is responsible for providing guide to the government through the permanent secretary, and is the executive of the Scottish civil service.

To deliver its work, there are 9 executive agencies setting by ministers as factor of government departments, or as departments in their own right, to carry out a discrete area of work. These include, for example, the Scottish Prison Service and Transport Scotland. Executive agencies are staffed by civil servants.

There are two non-ministerial departments that form part of the Scottish administration, and therefore the devolved administration, butdirectly to the Scottish Parliament rather than to ministers: these are the General Register Office for Scotland and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

The Scottish Government is also responsible for a large number of Children's Panel and Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland; and nationalised industries e.g. Scottish Water. These are staffed by public servants, rather than civil servants.

The Scottish Government is also responsible for some other public bodies that are not classed as non-departmental public bodies, such as NHS Boards, Visiting Committees for Scottish Penal Establishments or HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland.