Executive agencies are established by ministers as part of Scottish Government 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, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in so ...

, 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 Sir John Robin Ibbs, (21 April 1926 – 27 July 2014) was an English business executive, government advisor and Royal Navy officer. He was Chairman of Lloyds Bank from 1993 to 1997 and of Lloyds TSB Group PLC from 1995 to 1997. Life Born in 1926 ...

' (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 * Disclosure Scotland *

Education Scotland Education Scotland ( gd, Foghlam Alba) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, tasked with improving the quality of the country's education system. Origins The creation of the Agency was announced by Scottish Government Education a ...

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is 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. ...

* Scottish Forestry * Scottish Prison Service *

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 Sc ...

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 devolved Scottish Parliament was established in 199 ...

* Student Awards Agency for Scotland * Transport Scotland

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 Edinbur ...

(part reabsorbed into Scottish Government, the remainder reorganised into the Scottish Housing Regulator) * Fisheries Research Services (now part of Marine Scotland, within core Scottish Government) * Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland *

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 ...

(now a non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government ) * Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (now part of core Scottish Government) * Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (now part of Marine Scotland, within core Scottish Government) * Scottish Court Service (now an NDPB under Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008) * Scottish Building Standards Agency (now part of core Scottish Government) * Scottish Housing Regulator (now a non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government ) * Social Work Inspection Agency (now part of the Care Inspectorate, a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government) * Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (now part of Education Scotland)

References

Scotland Executive agencies {{Scotland-org-stub