Our governance

Our Management Board

This information page was withdrawn on

The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland is now known as the Scotland Office. This page is no longer current.


The Director of this Office is responsible for overseeing the delivery of our objectives as set out in our business plan.

In addition to policy teams covering the range of reserved matters the office also has a ministerial private office, press office and a finance and administration section.

Joint Management Board

Our Office and the Office of the Advocate General (OAG) for Scotland have a common governance structure and a single Parliamentary vote.

The offices have a Joint Management Board (JMB) chaired by the Secretary of State for Scotland. Our Director is the Principal Accounting Officer for both offices.

The board meets regularly and considers a wide range of issues, from the overall complement of the offices to the budgeting allocations within the offices.

Read the edited versions of the JMB minutes:

Joint Management Board minutes: November 2012 (PDF, 18.7 KB, 2 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes: June 2012 (PDF, 25.9 KB, 3 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes March 2013 (PDF, 124 KB, 2 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes November 2013 (PDF, 137 KB, 2 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes July 2013 (PDF, 126 KB, 2 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes March 2014 (PDF, 126 KB, 2 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes July 2014 (PDF, 125 KB, 2 pages)

Joint Management Board minutes October 2014 (MS Word Document, 24 KB)

For previous minutes please go to the National Archives

The board’s non-executive member is the chair of the Audit Committee. Another member of the Audit Committee attends the Board as a non-executive member.

In addition, the JMB has 3 sub-committees.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee provides assurance and advice to the Director as Principal Accounting Officer on the Offices’ management of resources and management of risk.

The Audit Committee is advised by the National Audit Office and by Internal Audit of the Ministry of Justice.

Read the terms of reference of the Committee:

Terms of Reference (MS Word Document, 59.5 KB)

The annual report of the Audit Committee is published as an annex to the full annual report.

Scotland Senior Management Team and OAG Senior Management Team

Senior Management Teams deal with operational matters within the offices.

Our only arms length body is the Boundary Commission for Scotland.