Executive agencies are established by ministers as part of

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

to carry out a discrete area of work. They form an integral part of the Scottish Government, but have a specific, well-defined remit. They are staffed by civil servants and headed by a Chief Executive, who is a civil servant, and are directly accountable to the government. Executive agencies differ from

public bodies A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

, which are not considered to be part of the Government, although they are listed in the Scottish Government's directory of national public bodies alongside the public bodies. Executive agencies may be considered similar to the government's core directorates, but are generally more focused on the management and direct delivery of public services as opposed to policy formation (although they may also provide strategic policy input). Executive agencies were first established following Sir Robin Ibbs' (then head of the Efficiency Unit) "Next Steps" Report in 1988. The intention was that they would take responsibility for, and bring a new, more customer-focused approach to, individual executive (service delivery) functions within government. This would leave their parent departments to concentrate on policy development, although this boundary can be very blurred.

Current Agencies

The following bodies are executive agencies: *

Accountant in Bankruptcy The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) is the Scottish government agency responsible for administering the process of personal bankruptcy and corporate insolvency, administering the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS), and implementing, monitoring and re ...

Disclosure Scotland Disclosure Scotland () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, providing criminal records disclosure services for employers and voluntary sector organisations. Disclosure Scotland currently offers a range of products, starting wit ...

Education Scotland Education Scotland () is an Executive agencies of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Government, tasked with improving the quality of the country's Scottish education system, education system. Education Scotland is respon ...

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) () is an executive agency responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. It was formed o ...

Scottish Forestry Scottish Forestry () is the public body responsible for forestry regulation, policy and support to private landowners in Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 2019, to take over some of the responsibilities of Forestry Commission Scotland, which wa ...

Scottish Prison Service The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and Young Offender Institutions. The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, currently Teresa Medhurst, is responsible ...

Scottish Public Pensions Agency The Scottish Public Pensions Agency () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government. It is responsible for the administration and regulation of government pension schemes in Scotland. This includes the pension schemes of NHS Scotland and for ...

Social Security Scotland Social Security Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''Tèarainteachd Shòisealta Alba'') is an executive agency of the Scottish Government with responsibility for social security provision. History The Scottish Parliament was created in 1999 with legisl ...

Student Awards Agency for Scotland Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government. It supports eligible Scottish students by paying their tuition fees, as well as offering bursaries and supplementary grants. It also assesses students ...

Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland, an execut ...

Selected Former Agencies

Communities Scotland Communities Scotland was an executive agency of the Scottish Government from 2001 to 2008. The Agency was responsible for housing, homelessness, communities and regeneration throughout Scotland. Communities Scotland was headquartered in Edinburgh ...

(part reabsorbed into Scottish Government, the remainder reorganised into the Scottish Housing Regulator) *

Fisheries Research Services Fisheries Research Services (FRS) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. FRS was responsible for scientific and technical research into the marine and freshwater fisheries and aquaculture, and the protection of the aquatic enviro ...

(now part of Marine Scotland, within core Scottish Government) *

Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland is a tribunal of the Scottish Government to hear applications for, and appeals against, Compulsory Treatment Order, and appeals against Short Term Detention Certificates made under the Mental Health (Care an ...

Registers of Scotland Registers of Scotland (RoS) () is the non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government responsible for compiling and maintaining records relating to property and other legal documents. They currently maintain 21 public registers. The offic ...

(now a non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government ) *

Scottish Agricultural Science Agency SASA (formerly the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency) is a division of the Scottish Government Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate. It provides scientific advice and support on a range of agricultural and environmental topics to the Sc ...

(now part of core Scottish Government) *

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. On 1 April 2009, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and Fisheries Research Services were merged with the Scottish Government Marine Dire ...

(now part of Marine Scotland, within core Scottish Government) *

Scottish Court Service The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) () is an independent public body which is responsible for the administration of the courts and tribunals of Scotland. The Service is led by a board which is chaired by the Lord President of the ...

(now an NDPB under

Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in October 2008 to reform the courts of Scotland, to give statutory force to judicial independence, and to establish the Lord President of the Court of Sessio ...

) *

Scottish Building Standards Agency The Scottish Building Standards Agency was an executive agency of the Scottish Government. It was responsible for building standards regulations in Scotland. The Agency was based in Livingston, West Lothian Livingston (, ) is the largest town ...

(now part of core Scottish Government) *

Scottish Housing Regulator The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) () is an independent Non-Ministerial Department, directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament. The body was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. SHR is the successor to the p ...

(now a non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government ) *

Social Work Inspection Agency The Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) was an inspectorate in Scotland between 2005 and 2011. History It was established as an inspectorate in April 2005 by the Scottish Government to scrutinise all aspects of social services provided by Scott ...

(now part of the Care Inspectorate, a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government) *

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for the inspection of public and private, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community learni ...

(now part of Education Scotland)

References

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Executive agencies An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

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