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 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 with Ba ...

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 Forestry ( gd, Coilltearachd n h-Alba) 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 Co ...

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 f ...

* Scottish Public Pensions Agency *

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 19 ...

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 ap ...

Transport Scotland Transport Scotland ( gd, Còmhdhail Alba) 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. Organisa ...

Selected Former Agencies

* Communities Scotland (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 en ...

(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 a ...

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 r ...

(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 Delivery Directorate. It provides scientific advice and support on a range of agricultural and environmental topics to the ...

(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 Direc ...

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

Scottish Court Service , type = , seal = , logo = 250px , logo_caption = , formed = , jurisdiction = Scotland , headquarters = Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD , employees = 1,374 , budget = £129.3 million (2015-2016) , chief1_name = Lor ...

(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 ( sco, Leivinstoun, gd ...

(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 prev ...

(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 Sco ...

(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 independent, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community lear ...

(now part of Education Scotland)

References

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

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 Nor ...

{{Scotland-org-stub