Following the
Act of Union 1707 and the adjournment of the old
Parliament of Scotland, the post of
Secretary of State for Scotland was established within the government of the
Kingdom of Great Britain. The Secretary of State was entrusted with general responsibility for the governance of Scotland, with the
Lord Advocate acting as chief law officer in Scotland. The post of Secretary of State for Scotland was abolished in 1746, and the Lord Advocate assumed responsibility for government business in Scotland. In 1828 the
Home Secretary was formally put "in charge of Scotland", but the Lord Advocate continued to be the voice of Scotland in the government and took the lead in Scottish debates. During the nineteenth century, the functions of government increased, particularly at a local level dealing with issues such as public health, poor law relief, roads and education, and local authorities were active in providing water supplies, drainage, hospitals and town planning. To exercise control over these local activities, a number of supervisory boards such as the Board of Supervision for Poor Relief (1845–1894), the General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy (1857–1913) and the Scotch Education Department (a committee of the
Privy Council) were established. However the accountability of these boards was not clear, they were staffed by amateurs and they increased the scope for government patronage. In 1869 Scottish MPs asked
Gladstone to appoint a Scottish Secretary with responsibility for the boards, but the post of
Secretary for Scotland, and with it, the Scottish Office, were not created until 1885.
Departments By the time the Scottish Office was formed in 1885, a number of institutions of government existed exclusively for Scotland: the
Board of Supervision for Poor Relief which had been established in 1828, the
Fishery Board which had been limited to Scotland in 1849, the
General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy (established in 1857), the
Scotch Education Department (established in 1872), and the
Prisons Commission, created in 1877. In 1886, a
Crofters Commission was established, and lasted until 1911. In 1894, the Board of Supervision for Poor Relief became the
Local Government Board for Scotland, and three years later a
Congested Districts Board was established and lasted until 1911. To these were added the
Board of Agriculture for Scotland in 1912, the
Highlands and Islands Medical Services Board the following year, and the
Scottish Insurance Commissioners in 1911. These bodies were gradually consolidated and reformed thereafter. In 1919, a
Board of Health was formed to bring together and extend the functions of the Insurance Commissioners, Highlands and Islands Medical Services Board, and the Local Government Board for Scotland. This Board, along with the Board of Agriculture and the Prisons Commission were abolished in 1928 and replaced with departments, for Health,
Agriculture and
Prisons respectively (by the
Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1928). The departments were reformed, with the functions of the Fishery Board and the Prisons Department merged into a new
Scottish Home Department. Agriculture, Education and Health were left largely intact and reformed into Departments. The portfolios were widened when the Scottish Office received functions relating to the
Crown Estates in 1943 and
forestry in 1945, and after the Report of the
Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs in 1954. The departmental structure changed in 1960, when responsibility for fisheries was removed from the Home Office and added the Department of Agriculture (it then became the
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries), and in 1962, when the Home and Health departments were merged (into the
Scottish Home and Health Department). A new
Development Department was also established in 1962. In 1973, they were joined by a new
Scottish Economic Planning Department, which was renamed the
Scottish Industry Department in 1983. All of the Departments had their names changed in 1991, when "Scottish Office" was prefixed to them, and at the same time the Development Department was renamed to the
Scottish Office Environment Department. The year 1995 brought further changes; the Industry Department was merged with Education to form the
Scottish Office Education and Industry Department; the Environment Department reverted to its old name; the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries was renamed the
Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department; and the Home and Health Department was broken up: the new
Scottish Office Home Department was still headed by a permanent secretary, but
Scottish Office Health Department was not, instead comprising the
Management Executive for NHS in Scotland, the
Chief Scientist Office, the
Public Health Policy Unit,
Medical Services, and
Nursing Services. All of the Departments were abolished in 1999 and most of their functions transferred to the newly formed
Scottish Executive. ==Ministers==