Policy > Government & Parliament > Scottish Government

The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. Its responsibilities include dealing with most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people living in Scotland, they include:

• health
• education and training
• local government
• social work
• housing
• planning
• tourism, economic development and financial assistance to industry
• some aspects of transport, including the Scottish road network, bus policy and ports and harbours
• law and home affairs, including most aspects of criminal and civil law, the prosecution system and the courts
• the Police and Fire services
• the environment
• natural and built heritage
• agriculture, forestry and fishing
• sport and the arts
• statistics, public registers and records

The Executive has access to an annual budget of more than £27 billion in the financial year 2005-2006, this is given by the Treasury in London in the form of a the ‘block grant’ to Scotland know as the Barnett Formula. Established in 1999, the present Executive elected in May 2007 is formed by the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Leadership

The Scottish Government is led by a First Minister who is nominated by the Parliament usually from the largest party or coalition and in turn appoints the other Scottish Cabinet Secretaries who make up the Cabinet. Government civil servants are accountable to Scottish Secretaries, who are themselves accountable to the Scottish Parliament.

The present administration (post - May 2007) has six Cabinet portfolios, below are summaries of departmental objectives

First Minister
Finance and Sustainable Growth
Health and Wellbeing
Education and Lifelong Learning
Justice and Communities
Rural Affairs and Environment

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service continues to be part of the government but are not directly affected by these changes, given the need to maintain their independence as a prosecution service. The Lord Advocate, no longer sits as a member of the cabinet and works with the Solicitor General.

Departments of the Executive post May 2007

Development Department
Education Department
Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
Environment and Rural Affairs Department
Health Department
Justice Department
Legal & Parliamentary Services Department
Office of the Permanent Secretary

Main policy objectives: Wealthier, fairer, healthier, safer and stronger, smarter and greener. Read more

Relationships with U.K. government & departments

Concordats
The statutory framework for devolution set out in the Scotland Act 1998 is underpinned by the Memorandum of Understanding and four Overarching Concordats (on International Relations, the EU, Financial Assistance to Industry and Statistics) between the UK Government and the three devolved administrations (Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). See the Scottish Government website for more

The British Department of Justice
The Scotland Office, and the role of the Secretary of State for Scotland, became part of the British Department of Justice in June 2007. See the Scottish Government website for more

Advocate General for Scotland
The Advocate General for Scotland is a Law Officer of the Crown and (as such) principal legal adviser to the Government on Scots Law and exercises statutory functions under the Scotland Act The Advocate . See the Scottish Government website for more.

For more information on the political parties of Scotland check our Policy links page

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