The Scottish Cabinet
First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon MSP
Head of the Scottish Government: responsible for development, implementation and presentation of Government policy, constitutional affairs, and for promoting and representing Scotland.
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
John Swinney MSP
Responsibilities include:
- school standards, quality and improvement
- school infrastructure & staffing
- educational attainment, qualifications and closing the attainment gap
- National Improvement Framework
- teaching profession
- behaviour and measures to combat bullying
- modern languages and the Gaelic and Scots languages
- Named Person
- Skills Development Scotland
- non-advanced vocational skills
- historical abuse enquiry
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
Humza Yousaf MSP
Responsibilities include:
- police
- courts, sentencing
- justice system and criminal law procedure
- violence reduction
- criminal justice social work, victims, witnesses, female offenders
- human rights
- prisons and prisoners
- reducing reoffending
- security
- youth justice
Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People
Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP
Responsibilities include:
- welfare policy, social security
- measures against poverty (with CSCLG)
- Best Start Grant (replacing the UK Government's Sure Start Maternity Grant)
- Funeral Expense Assistance (replacing the UK Government's Funeral Payment)
- Carers Allowance (at which point we will stop paying Carers Allowance Supplement)
- Young Carers Grant
- Personal Independence Payments
- Disability Living Allowance
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Attendance Allowance
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Cold Weather Payments
- Winter Fuel Payments
As the Minister for Older
People and Equalities is currently on medical leave, the Cabinet Secretary has
additional responsibilities.
These are:
· mainstreaming
equality
· human
rights
· older
people equality
· disability
equality
· race
equalities
· women
and gender equality
· violence
against women and girls
· LGBTI
equality
· social
isolation and loneliness
Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform
Roseanna Cunningham MSP
Responsibilities include:
- climate change and environmental protection
- biodiversity
- Crown Estate
- environmental and climate justice
- flood prevention & coastal erosion
- land use and land reform
- animal welfare
- wildlife crime
- water quality and Scottish Water
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism
Fergus Ewing MSP
Responsibilities include:
- agriculture and crofting
- fisheries and aquaculture
- food and drink
- Highlands & Islands Enterprise
- South of Scotland Enterprise Agency
- rural Scotland
- animal health
- forestry
- tourism
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport
Jeane Freeman MSP
Responsibilities include:
- NHS and its performance, staff and pay
- Health care and social integration
- patient services and patient safety
- primary care, acute services elective centres Implementing the 2020 Vision, national clinical strategy, quality strategy and national service planning
- allied Healthcare services
- carers, adult care and support
- child and maternal health
- dentistry
- medical records, health improvement and protection
Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government
Aileen Campbell MSP
Responsibilities include:
- social justice
- tackling inequalities
- measures against poverty (with CSSS)
- community empowerment, devolution to communities and reform of local government
- democratic renewal
- third sector and social economy
- advocacy and advice
- religious and faith organisations
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture
Fiona Hyslop MSP
Responsibilities include:
- Scottish National Investment Bank
- Scottish economy
- Inclusive Growth & Fair Work
- Trades Unions
- Scottish Enterprise - national enterprise agency
- Trade and inward investment
- Creative industries
- Culture
- Architecture and built heritage
- Broadcasting
- Co-ordination on bringing major events to Scotland
- National Records
Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs
Michael Russell MSP
Responsibilities include:
- The UK's exit from the European Union
- international relations
- Government and parliamentary business
- Constitutional Relations and intra-governmental affairs
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity
Michael Matheson MSP
Responsibilities include:
- transport and public transport
- infrastructure investment policy
- cities & City Deals
- town centres
Cabinet Secretary for Finance
Kate Forbes MSP
Responsibilities include:
-
Budget Bill
- Managing the public finances
- Fiscal policy and taxation
- Income and ADT
- Fiscal Framework
- Scottish budget, budgetary monitoring and reporting
- Government procurement
- National Performance Framework
- Public bodies policy
- Scottish futures trust
- Public sector pay
- Digital Economy
Ministers
Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans
Graeme Dey MSP
Responsibilities include:
- government and parliamentary business
- local government elections
- Scottish Parliamentary elections
- Freedom Of Information (FOI) and open government
- veterans
Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning
Kevin Stewart MSP
Responsibilities include:
- housing
- local government
- planning
- building standards
- Business Improvement Districts
- community planning
- homelessness
- regeneration
- fuel poverty
Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands
Paul Wheelhouse MSP
Responsibilities include:
- energy and energy consents
- renewable energy industries
- connectivity including 100% broadband
- cross government co-ordination on islands
Minister for Community Safety
Ash Denham MSP
Responsibilities include:
- community safety
- access to justice
- anti-sectarianism
- anti-social behaviour
- civil law
- fire and rescue services
- liquor licensing
- legal profession
Minister for Children and Young People
Maree Todd MSP
Responsibilities include:
- childcare implementation
- early years
- child protection
- adoption and fostering
- children's hearings
- children's rights
- children's services
- looked after children
- protection of vulnerable groups
- social service workforce
Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills
Jamie Hepburn MSP
Responsibilities include:
- business, industry and manufacturing
- employment policy
- labour market strategy, the living wage, and fair work
- employability programmes
- youth employment (including implementation of the Wood Commission recommendations)
- women's employment
- bankruptcy and Accountant in Bankruptcy (Scottish government agency)
- regional economic forums
- PACE
- non-advanced vocational skills
- skills Development Scotland (Scotland's national skills agency)
- consumer protection
Minister for Public Health and Sport
Mairi Gougeon MSP
Responsibilities include:
- health improvement
- public health and healthy working lives
- physical activity, sport, sporting events and events legacy
- problem alcohol use and recovery, and drugs policy
- Care Inspectorate
- carers
- child and maternal health (excluding mental health)
- health protection
- person-centred care
- self-directed support
- sexual health
Minister for Mental Health
Clare Haughey MSP
Responsibilities include:
- mental health
- child and adolescent mental health
- adult support and protection
- autism, sensory impairment and learning difficulties
- dementia
- Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (safeguards the rights of people with mental health problems, learning disabilities, dementia and related conditions)
- survivors of childhood abuse
- The State Hospital (Carstairs)
Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment
Ben Macpherson MSP
Responsibilities include:
Responsibilities include:
- Animal health & welfare
- Marine planning
- National Parks and natural heritage
- Physical and marine environment
- Sustainable development
Minister for Older People and Equalities
Christina McKelvie MSP
Christina McKelvie is
on medical leave from 1 March 2021. The Cabinet Secretary for Social
Security and Older People will assume her ministerial responsibilities.
Responsibilities include:
- equalities
- protection and development of social and human rights
- older people
- disabilities
- cross government co-ordination of policies in support of women and gender equality
Minister for Trade, Innovation and Public Finance
Ivan McKee MSP
Responsibilities include:
- Innovation and increasing productivity
- Internationalisation and European Structural Funds
- Trade and inward investment
- Innovation and increasing productivity
- Internationalisation and European Structural Funds
- Life sciences
- Low Carbon Economy
- Financial Services
- Government procurement
- Government Statistics
- Fiscal policy and taxation
- Public sector pensions
- Efficient Government
- Registers of Scotland
- Revenue Scotland
- Digital Participation
Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science
Richard Lochhead MSP
Responsibilities include:
- Further education and colleges
- Higher education and universities
- Science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)
- Student funding
- Youth work
- Widening access
Minister for Europe and International Development
Jenny Gilruth MSP
Responsibilities include:
- international development
- Post-Brexit relations
- Cross government co-ordination on the European Union
- Fair Trade
- Scottish diaspora
- Migration
Minister for Drugs Policy
Angela Constance MSP
Responsibilities include:
Tackling and reducing the harm of drug misuse, supporting the
rehabilitation and recovery of those living with drug addiction, and reducing
the unacceptable number of deaths from drugs. The Minister will report directly
to the First Minister.
Law Officers
Lord Advocate
James Wolffe QC
The Lord Advocate, also known as Her Majesty’s Advocate, is the senior Scottish Law Officer. The following are the Lord Advocate’s main functions:
- Head of the systems for the investigation and prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths
- Principal legal adviser to the Scottish Government
- Representing the Scottish Government in civil proceedings
- Representing the public interest in a range of statutory and common law contexts
All prosecutions on indictment run in the name of the Lord Advocate.
Solicitor General
Alison Di Rollo
The Solicitor General is a Scottish Law Officer. The Solicitor General supports the Lord Advocate in the exercise of the Lord Advocate’s functions, and may exercise, as required, his statutory and common law powers.
Further information
Scottish Government information about the work of the Scottish Cabinet