ABSTRACT
The Scottish Parliament, and the Scottish Government formed from within its membership, is products of the Scotland Act 1998 and subsequent amending legislation. In 2007, the Scottish Government abolished a departmental structure, as part of a radical shift to the concept of government as a single organisation. Local government in Scotland is organised through unitary local authorities. The structure of central government across the UK has been driven since the 1980s by an explicit view that effectiveness is enhanced by the fragmentation of government into an increasing number of bodies with narrowly defined functions. The Scottish Government also includes seven non-ministerial departments, which are more separate from the core of government. As part of the role in aligning central and local government strategic objectives put in place through the 2008 concordat, a number of senior Scottish Government civil servants, mainly at director level, have been given individual responsibilities for linking with individual community planning partnerships.
