The Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government is the most senior civil servant in
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 ...
who leads more than 7000 staff within the
Scottish Government and has oversight of around 125 agencies. The permanent secretary supports the Scottish Government in developing, implementing and communicating its policy agenda. The permanent secretary is the chief official policy adviser to the
First Minister of Scotland and acts as secretary during cabinet meetings. The permanent secretary is also responsible for ensuring that the government's money and resources are used effectively and properly. The role is currently occupied by
John-Paul Marks
John-Paul ('JP') Marks is a senior civil servant who has served as the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government since 2022. He previously worked in the UK Government's Department for Work and Pensions, serving as the Director General for ...
, who was appointed in January 2022 by First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon, with the agreement of the
Cabinet Secretary,
Simon Case.
History
The role of permanent secretary originally headed the Office of the Permanent Secretary, which was a civil service
department of the Scottish Government (at the time styled as the Scottish Executive). The departments that made up the Scottish Executive were abolished in May 2007. Functions are now delivered by over 30 separate
directorates.
List of permanent secretaries
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Muir Russell
Sir Alastair Muir Russell (born 9 January 1949) is a Scottish retired civil servant and former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, and Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.
Early life
Russell was b ...
(May 1998–July 2003)
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John Elvidge (July 2003–June 2010)
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Peter Housden
Sir Peter James Housden (born 7 December 1950) is a former public official who worked in local and central government. He served as Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government from June 2010 to June 2015. He was previously Permanent Secret ...
(June 2010–June 2015)
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Leslie Evans (June 2015–December 2022)
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John-Paul Marks
John-Paul ('JP') Marks is a senior civil servant who has served as the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government since 2022. He previously worked in the UK Government's Department for Work and Pensions, serving as the Director General for ...
(January 2022–present)
See also
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Civil service
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Scottish Government
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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 a ...
References
External links
Scottish Governmentofficial site of the
Scottish Government
{{Scotland-gov-stub
Scottish Government
Civil Service (United Kingdom)