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Executive agencies of the Scottish Government

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.[1][2]

Executive agencies differ from public bodies, 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.[3] 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).[4]


Executive agencies were first established following Sir Robin Ibbs' (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.

Accountant in Bankruptcy

Disclosure Scotland

Education Scotland

[6]

Forestry and Land Scotland

[7]

Scottish Forestry

Scottish Prison Service

Scottish Public Pensions Agency

Social Security Scotland

Student Awards Agency for Scotland

Transport Scotland

The following bodies are executive agencies:[5]

(part reabsorbed into Scottish Government, the remainder reorganised into the Scottish Housing Regulator)

Communities Scotland

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

Fisheries Research Services

Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland

(now a non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government )

Registers of Scotland

(now part of core Scottish Government)

Scottish Agricultural Science Agency

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

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

(now an NDPB under Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008)

Scottish Court Service

(now part of core Scottish Government)

Scottish Building Standards Agency

(now a non-ministerial office of the Scottish Government )

Scottish Housing Regulator

(now part of the Care Inspectorate, a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government)

Social Work Inspection Agency

(now part of Education Scotland)

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education