Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic
Scottish Cabinet | |
---|---|
Style |
|
Member of | |
Reports to | |
Seat | Edinburgh |
Appointer | First Minister (following approval from Scottish Parliament) |
Inaugural holder | Keith Brown Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work |
Formation | 18 May 2016 |
Deputy | |
Salary | £126,452 per annum (2024)[1] (including £72,196 MSP salary) |
Website | www |
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic is a position in the
The Cabinet Secretary is supported by the Minister for Business, Richard Lochhead, and the Minister for Employment and Investment, Tom Arthur.
History
The role was first titled Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, with the initial holder being
The post was abolished in June 2018, with the "economy" part of the brief moving to the
In February 2020, a
Under First Minister Humza Yousaf, Neil Gray was appointed as Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Secretary, with the Finance brief again becoming a separate post. Following a reshuffle, Màiri McAllan held the portfolio of Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy.
In May 2024,
Overview
Responsibilities
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic is responsible for:[5]
- inter-governmental relations
- Responsibility for cross-government delivery & outcomes
- National Performance Framework
- Historical Abuse Inquiry
- Redress
- Covid Inquiries
- Sheku Bayoh public inquiry
- Languages, including Gaelic, Scots and BSL
- economic policy and prosperity
- green industrial strategy (jointly with Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy)
- support for business, industry and manufacturing
- long-term labour market strategy
- enterprise agencies
- Scottish National Investment Bank
- Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
- entrepreneurship
- engagement with UK government on shared prosperity fund, evelling up fund, ESIF
Infrastructure investment
- regional economic partnerships
- Clyde Mission
- city and regional growth deals
- government investments (Prestwick, Fergusons, BiFab)
Public bodies
The following public bodies report to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic:[5]
- Scottish Enterprise
- Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- South of Scotland Enterprise
- Scottish National Investment Bank
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport
- Ferguson Marine
- BiFab
List of Economy Secretaries
As is typical of Scottish government roles, the Economy portfolio has gone through many iterations since its inception. The current holder is Kate Forbes, who has held the role since May 2024.
Name | Portrait | Entered Office | Left Office | Party | First Minister | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Role formed out of Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work | ||||||
Keith Brown | 18 May 2016 | 26 June 2018 | Scottish National Party | Nicola Sturgeon | ||
Role merged with Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work | ||||||
Derek Mackay | 26 June 2018 | 5 February 2020 | Scottish National Party | Nicola Sturgeon | ||
Role merged with Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture | ||||||
Fiona Hyslop | 17 February 2020 | 19 May 2021 | Scottish National Party | Nicola Sturgeon | ||
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy | ||||||
Kate Forbes | 20 May 2021 | 28 March 2023 | Scottish National Party | Nicola Sturgeon | ||
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy | ||||||
Neil Gray | 29 March 2023 | 8 February 2024 | Scottish National Party | Humza Yousaf | ||
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy | ||||||
Màiri McAllan | 8 February 2024 | 8 May 2024 | Scottish National Party | Humza Yousaf | ||
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic | ||||||
Kate Forbes | 9 May 2024 | Incumbent | Scottish National Party | John Swinney |
References
- The Scottish Parliament. 13 May 2024.
- ^ a b "New Scottish Cabinet". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "New Cabinet appointed". Scottish Government. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ "Cabinet Appointments". Scottish Government. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic". Scottish Government. Retrieved 13 May 2024. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.