Scottish Government

The Labour Party included the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament in its manifesto for the 1997 UK general election. Tony Blair won a landslide victory, with a majority of 179. Blair then held a referendum on Scottish devolution in September 1997, with 1,775,045 people (74.2%) voting in favour in contrast to 614,400 (25.7%) voting against the proposal. The referendum result was recognised, and the Scotland Act 1998 created the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive, with many of the functions of the Scottish Office and the Secretary of State for Scotland being transferred to the new Executive. The new parliament and executive were also to have control over tax varying powers, and full legislative control over areas such as healthcare, education, policing, Scots law, environment, housing, local government, culture and some aspects of transportation, amongst others.

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 first Scottish Executive was formed by First Minister Donald Dewar as a coalition between the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. During this period, ministerial appointees were divided into ministers and deputy ministers. The Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition continued under subsequent First Ministers Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell. Following the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Alex Salmond became the first politician from the Scottish National Party to lead the Scottish Government. He became first minister in 2007 and served in office until his resignation in 2014, with his former deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, succeeding him in November 2014.

In 2007, the administration of Alex Salmond began to use the name Scottish Government instead of Scottish Executive. The change of name was later recognised in United Kingdom legislation by the Scotland Act 2012. …

The Scottish Government is separate from the Scottish Parliament; parliament consists of 129 members (MSPs) elected by the Scottish electorate. The Scottish Parliament acts as the legislative body in areas for which the Scottish Government is responsible, called "devolved matters". The work of the Scottish Government, including proposed legislation, policies and activities, is scrutinised by parliament through a variety of different measures such as parliamentary debates, parliament committees and parliamentary questions to the appropriate Cabinet Secretary or government minister.

The Scottish Government is directly responsible for executing laws that have been approved by the Scottish Parliament. The party with the largest number of MSPs returned in parliamentary elections usually forms a government. As such, the Scottish Government is responsible for proposing most bills to the parliament for consideration and approval. If an overall majority in parliament approves a bill, it passes and is given royal assent by the monarch, becoming part of Scots law. Each law is sanctioned by the monarch using the Great Seal of Scotland.

Each year, the Scottish Government produces its annual budget for public spending which is presented to members of the Scottish Parliament for consideration. The Budget Bill is scrutinised by the parliamentary committees, and goes through three parliamentary stages before passing – a parliamentary debate on the general principles of the Budget Bill, any changes to the Budget Bill can be put forward to parliament by Scottish Government ministers, with such proposed changes being considered by the Finance and Constitution Committee, and lastly, MSPs determine whether any additional changes are required following the changes proposed by Scottish Government ministers, and members then vote on whether to pass the Bill. Similar to other acts of the Scottish Parliament, if the Budget Bill passes in the Scottish Parliament, it receives royal assent and becomes an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

Strategically, the first minister is the head of the Scottish Government, and not the head of the Scottish Parliament. The head of the Scottish Parliament is usually considered to be the presiding officer who is the speaker of the parliament and presides over all parliamentary business and debates. …

The Scottish Government consists of a first minister, deputy first minister, a number of cabinet secretaries, and a number of other ministers. For statutory purposes, cabinet secretaries, including the deputy first minister, are known as "Ministers", other ministers are known as "junior Scottish Ministers", and the first minister and all of the cabinet secretaries collectively are known as "the Scottish Ministers". Cabinet secretaries are members of the Scottish Cabinet, while other ministers do not usually attend cabinet.

Additionally, the Scottish Government is supported by a permanent secretary, two law officers – the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland – who serve as the chief legal advisers to the government, and the Chief of Staff to the First Minister, as well as several other government officials, personal secretaries and advisers to the Scottish Government and the first minister.

The head of the Scottish Government is the first minister who also serves as the keeper of the Great Seal whilst in office as first minister. The first minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy. Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Scotland in an official capacity, at home and abroad. In their capacity as Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, the first minister is one of only a few individuals permitted to fly the Royal Banner of the Royal Arms of Scotland.

The first minister is nominated by the Scottish Parliament by fellow MSPs, and is formally appointed by the monarch. The first minister appoints members of the Scottish Cabinet and junior ministers of the Scottish Government. As head of the Scottish Government, the first minister is directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament for their actions and the actions of the wider government and cabinet.

The office is held by John Swinney of the Scottish National Party since 7 May 2024.

The deputy first minister supports the first minister. When the first minister is absent, such as during overseas visits and international engagements, the deputy first minister acts in his or her place. The deputy first minister may also take questions in parliament on the first minister's behalf. …

The Scottish Government outlines all spending and tax plans in its annual Scottish budget. 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. The accompanying Budget Document is featured with the Budget Bill, which sets out the plans in a legal document. Initially, the Budget Bill is first debated by Scottish Parliament MSPs who conduct votes within the Scottish Parliament on any amendments to the bill before voting on the bill to be made into law. 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.

The Budget outlines all plans for how the Scottish Government intends to distribute funds to each government department. The government must provide their reasonings for the allocation of funding, and may also decide on changes in tax rates and bands, changes to welfare benefits. The government also proposes any new taxes, additional welfare benefits and public services in the budget. During the 2019-2020 financial year, approximately 58% of total spending in Scotland was spent by both the Scottish Government and local government, in contrast to 41% of funding spent in Scotland by UK government bodies. The tax powers of the Scottish Government contribute towards a significant amount of the funding within the Scottish budget. For 2024-2025 the Scottish net fiscal balance was −11.6% of GDP.

The Scottish Government primarily spends in three main categories – Capital, Resource and Annually Managed Expenditure (AME). AME directly contributes £9 billion to the Scottish budget, and includes all levels of funding that are devolved, however, it also continues to be annually funded by the UK Government on the basis of demand. The areas of budget responsibility in which the Scottish Government has most influence over is resource and capital spending. …

Unlike some other countries, Scotland and the Scottish Parliament do not elect one individual to become the first minister, nor does it directly elect members of the government. Rather, the electorate in Scotland votes in parliamentary elections for the Scottish Parliament by voting for one constituency MSP and one regional MSP. In turn, the party with the largest candidates returned to the Scottish Parliament will be asked by the monarch to form a Scottish Government in their name. From 1999 until 2007, the Scottish Government, then known as the Scottish Executive, was headed by a coalition agreement between the Scottish Labour Party and Scottish Liberal Democrats. Since 2007, the Scottish Government has been run by the Scottish National Party, forming a majority government for the first time in the history of the Scottish Government following the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. In 2007, Alex Salmond became the first politician from the SNP to lead the Scottish Government.

In 2024, the Scottish Parliament passed the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill which the government claims will "enhance Scotland’s democratic processes". One of the major introductions of the bill is the ban on MSPs also serving as an MP or Peer in the UK Parliament whilst serving as an incumbent MSP in the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government is directly responsible for all elections to the Scottish Parliament and local government in Scotland. The Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Act 2015 allows all 16 and 17-year olds in Scotland to vote, the first election in which they were eligible to vote being the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.