Charles III William, Duke of Rothesay Swinney government The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP Kate Forbes MSP Sixth session Alison Johnstone MSP Angela Constance MSP Dorothy Bain KC The Rt Hon Lord Carloway KC PC United Kingdom Parliament elections European Parliament elections Local elections Referendums Starmer ministry The Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP The Scottish Government (Scottish Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba, pronounced [ˈrˠiə.əl̪ˠt̪əs nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland.

[4] It has been described as one of the most powerful devolved governments globally,[5] with full legislative control over a number of areas, including the economy, education, healthcare, justice and the legal system, rural affairs, housing, the crown estate, the environment, emergency services, equal opportunities, the transportation network, and tax, amongst others.

Recognised as having substantially more powers than the parliament, its responsibilities included the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of the country, and supervised the administration of the law, regulated trade and shipping, took emergency measures against the plague, granted licences to travel, administered oaths of allegiance, banished beggars and gypsies, dealt with witches, recusants, Covenanters and Jacobites and tackled the problem of lawlessness in the Highlands and the Borders.

[12] By the end of the Middle Ages it was sitting almost every year, partly because of the frequent royal minorities and regencies of the period, which may have prevented it from being sidelined by the monarchy.

[14] Following the ratification of the Treaty of Union, Parliament House became the seat of the Supreme Courts of Scotland in which it remains today.

During the 1970s, there was increasing pressure to reform the constitution, and thus, the Labour government under Prime Minister James Callaghan, held a referendum on Scottish devolution in 1979.

Meetings of the Scottish Assembly would have been held at the Old Royal High School in Regent Road, Edinburgh.

The former school hall was adapted for use by the Scottish Assembly, including the installation of microphones and new olive-green leather seating.

Instead, it supported the devolution of further powers to the administrative government of Scotland and allowing special treatment of Scottish business in Parliament.

[15] In 1997, the Labour Party returned to government, with Tony Blair as Prime Minister, and had included the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in its manifesto for the 1997 general election, which they won with a landslide majority of 179.

[18] Subsequently, the Scotland Acts of 2012 and 2016 transferred powers over some taxation including Income Tax, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, Landfill Tax, Aggregates Levy and Air Departure Tax, drink driving limits, Scottish Parliament and local authority elections, some social security powers, the Crown Estate of Scotland, some aspects of the benefits system, some aspects of the energy network in Scotland including renewable energy, energy efficiency and onshore oil and gas licensing, some aspects of equality legislation in Scotland and gaming machine licensing.

The Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition continued under subsequent First Ministers Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell.

[24]The Scottish Government's main headquarters are based at St Andrew's House in the capital city, Edinburgh.

If parliament gives a bill an overall majority, it passes and becomes enshrined in Scots law following receiving royal assent from the monarch.

First introduced in 2007, this framework acts a means to measure the performance of the government in eleven national outcome areas which include health, poverty, environment and education.

The process for introducing bills to the parliament for consideration and debate commences with the government publishing and formulating policy.

[27] The Scottish Government publishes statistics based on the majority of public life in Scotland, including, but not limited to, education, the economy, healthcare, population, death, marriages and births, as well as living standards.

In Scotland, the fiscal year runs from 1 April until 30 March, with the budget being presented to the Scottish Parliament by the government usually in November.

Once passed by parliament and given royal assent by the monarch, the Scottish Government thus becomes legally responsible for implementing the expenditure and taxation plans which were detailed within the budget for the coming fiscal year.

[32] The Scottish Government primarily spends in three main categories – Capital, Resource and Annually Managed Expenditure (AME).

The local authorities, known as councils, provides public services which include education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning in their respective areas.

[44] Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Scotland in an official capacity, at home and abroad.

[52] The Lord Advocate serves as the ministerial head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and as such, is the chief public prosecutor for Scotland with all prosecutions on indictment being conducted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in the Lord Advocate's name on behalf of the Monarch.

[53][54] The officeholder is regarded as one of the Great Officers of State of Scotland, with the current Lord Advocate being Dorothy Bain KC, who was nominated by first minister Nicola Sturgeon in June 2021.

They lead the administration's strategic board as well as directly support the first minister and cabinet and is the accountable officer with responsibility to ensure that the government's money and resources are used effectively and properly.

[64] The strategic board is composed of the permanent secretary, the seven directors-general, two chief advisers (scientific and economic) and four non-executive directors.

The board is responsible for providing support to the government through the permanent secretary, and is the executive of the Scottish civil service.

The headquarters building of the Scottish Government is St Andrew's House, which is located on Calton Hill in Edinburgh.

Other offices are scattered around central Edinburgh, including Bute House on Charlotte Square, the official residence of the first minister.

The Scottish Government's main areas for responsibility in the country include education, health and social care, Scots law, policing and justice, emergency services including the fire and ambulance services, local government, taxation, housing, rural affairs, home affairs, tourism, sport, culture, parliamentary elections to the Scottish Parliament and local government, the crown estate, some social security powers and rail franchising, amongst a considerable amount of others.