Directorates of the Scottish Government
The work of the Scottish Government is carried out by Directorates, each headed by a Director. The Directorates are grouped into a number of Directorates-General families, each headed by a Director-General. However, the individual Directorates are the building blocks of the system. The Directorates are further broken down into "Divisions" and then by teams. Divisions usually consist of 25-50 people. There is no direct correspondence between the political responsibilities of the Ministers in the Scottish Government and the Directorates, although in some cases there is considerable overlap. The Directorates are also responsible for a number of government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Some government work is also carried out by Executive Agencies such as Transport Scotland, who sit outside the Directorates structure, but are also staffed by civil servants
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The current system of Directorates was created by a December 2010 re-organisation.[1] Prior to 2007 the Directorates were preceded by similar structures called "Departments" that no longer exist (although the word is still sometimes used in this context).[2]
The Office of the Permanent Secretary is headed by the Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, who replaced Sir Peter Housden, in July 2015. The current structure of the directorates is given below.[3]
Constitution and External Affairs
Director-General, Ken Thomson
Directorates
- Constitution and Cabinet
- External Affairs
- Legal Services (Solicitor to the Scottish Government)
- Parliamentary Counsel
Economy
Director-General, Liz Ditchburn
Directorates
- Agriculture and Rural Economy
- Chief Economist
- Culture, Tourism and Major Events
- Economic Development
- Energy and Climate Change
- Environment and Forestry
- Fair Work, Employability and Skills
- International Trade and Investment
- Marine Scotland
- Scottish National Investment Bank
Education, Communities and Justice
Director-General, Paul Johnston
Directorates
- Advanced Learning and Science
- Children and Families
- Early Learning and Childcare Programme
- Housing and Social Justice
- Justice
- Learning
- Local Government and Communities
- Safer Communities
Exchequer
Director-General, Alyson Stafford
Directorates
- Budget and Sustainability
- Financial Strategy
- Internal Audit
- Performance and Strategic Outcomes
- Taxation and Fiscal Sustainability
Health and Social Care
Director-General and Chief Executive of NHS Scotland, Caroline Lamb
Directorates
- Chief Medical Officer
- Chief Nursing Officer
- Health Finance, Corporate Governance and Value
- Health Performance and Delivery
- Health Workforce, Leadership and Service Transformation
- Health and Social Care Integration
- Healthcare Quality and Improvement
- Mental Health
- Office of the Chief Executive NHS Scotland
- Population Health
Organisational Development and Operations
Director-General, Lesley Fraser
Directorates
- Communications and Ministerial Support
- Digital
- Financial Management
- People
- Scottish Procurement and Commercial
- Social Security
Strategy and External Affairs
Director-General, Ken Thompson
Note: In the September 2011 civil service reorganisation, three Directorates were combined. These were: the Cabinet, Strategy and Performance, and International and Constitution.[4][5]
Directorates
- Communications and Ministerial Support Directorate - Director: Barbara Allison
- Culture and Heritage Directorate - Director: Aileen McKechnie
- People Directorate - Director: Nicky Richards
- External Affairs Directorate - Director: Karen Watt
- Strategy & Constitution Directorate - Director: David Rogers
References
- "Paul Gray, Director-General Rural Affairs, Environment and Services". Scottish Government. Retrieved 7 May 2011. This notice refers to the transfer of the DG of the Scottish Government Environment Directorates in December 2010, and thus indirectly to this re-organisation.
- "Reporting on 100 Days: Moving Scotland forward" Scottish Government. Retrieved 15 August 2009. "A new structure for Scotland's Government has been put in place, transforming the Departmental structure, moving from nine Heads of Department, to a Strategic Board with the Permanent Secretary and five Directors-General (DG), with each DG having responsibility for driving one of the Government's strategic objectives. Directors-General focus on the performance of the whole organisation against the Cabinet's agenda. The new structure means that the old Scottish Executive Departments no longer exist. Instead, each DG supports and manages a number of Directors, with these Directorates leading, presenting and developing policy for Ministers."
- "The Civil Service". Scottish Government. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
- "Opponents' scorn over SNP's 'separation tsar'". The Scotsman. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- "About: People: Directorates". Scottish Government. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
External links
- How government is run - Scottish Government
- List of directorates - Scottish Government