About Scotland's Public Bodies
Public bodies* have a wide sphere of influence and are vital to the well-being of Scotland - for more information on individual Scottish public bodies please click on the directory and use the hyperlinks to discover more about their work.
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the highest standards in relation to appointments to public bodies and their day to day management and operations. To ensure this a Standards Commission has been established to uphold standards in public life and the Scottish Parliament has appointed a Scottish Information Commissioner and a Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments. With these measures in place the Scottish Government aims to ensure that the system of governance and the delivery of public services in Scotland is as open and transparent as possible. There has also been a duty of Best Value placed upon all accountable officers to secure continuous improvement in performance to enable the Scottish Government to deliver the excellent public services that the people of Scotland deserve and expect. A outline has also been introduced for Efficient Government across the public sector.
If you are interested in making a contribution to Scottish life you may wish to explore the public appointment section, examine the current vacancies and consider registering an interest. The Scottish Government are particularly keen to extend the range of board members to ensure that wherever possible membership represents all strands of Scottish life. At the moment there are currently not enough disabled people, people from ethnic backgrounds, women and younger people on the boards of these organisations and we urge anyone with the relevant experience and expertise to pursue an application we need your expertise, and you will find it a worth while and a very interesting experience.
In 2002 the Executive published the booklet A Guide to Public Bodies in Scotland in order to inform the public about the work of public bodies and to counter some common misconceptions and unfair criticisms of public bodies.
* The term Public Bodies as used throughout this website refers to Non-Departmental Public Bodies.