The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, commonly referred to as the Constitution Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is supported by the

Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development The Minister for Europe and International Development is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet.Angus Robertson Angus Struan Carolus Robertson (born 28 September 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 201 ...

, who assumed office in May 2021.

History

The

United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

took place on 23 June 2016. This position was established (initially as "Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland's Place in Europe") so that the Scottish government would be involved in the development of the UK government's position before the Prime Minister triggered

Article 50 Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union ( TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from t ...

. During a Scottish Government reshuffle in June 2018, the post was promoted to the Cabinet and renamed Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations. It was further renamed to Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs in February 2020.

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture include: *

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

* cross-government co-ordination of European and external relations * policy in relation to UK's exit from the EU * post-

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

relations * migration * Scottish diaspora * Global Affairs Network * Scottish Cities of Refuge * New Scot strategy * culture policy * broadcasting and screen *

National Records of Scotland National Records of Scotland ( gd, Clàran Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government. It is responsible for Civil registry, civil registration, the census in Scotland, demography and statistics, family histor ...

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 20 public registers. The official re ...

* British Irish Council * royal and ceremonial

Public bodies

The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture : *

Architecture and Design Scotland Architecture and Design Scotland, styled Architecture+DesignScotland (A&DS; gd, Ailtearachd is Dealbhadh na h-Alba), is an executive non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification appli ...

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

National Galleries of Scotland National Galleries of Scotland ( gd, Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the National Collections o ...

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

National Museums of Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; gd, Taighean-tasgaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, ...

Visitscotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other ...

List of office holders

References

External links

Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland's Place in Europe
on Scottish Government website
The Scottish Cabinet
on Scottish Government website Government Business and Constitutional Relations Brexit Foreign relations of Scotland 2016 establishments in Scotland {{Scotland-law-stub