User talk:Boyswish

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~&#126;); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! - BanyanTree 14:28, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
 * The five pillars of Wikipedia
 * How to edit a page
 * Help pages
 * Tutorial
 * How to write a great article
 * Manual of Style

A Question of Government
Hi Boyswish, and welcome to Wikipedia. I note your interest in the affairs of the government of Scotland and wonder if you might be able to assist. I left a message for another user recently to the following effect, but he is only an intermittent editor and I have not had a reply so far.

"I have been drafting an attempt at filling in the missing Rural Affairs and Environment Directorate blank at Template:Scottish Executive Departments. Minor conundrum here - are these high level structures "directorates" or "departments". I can't see anything definitive at this although by extension as it delegates the individual directorates to a lower tier they may not be directorates themselves.

Another conumdrum or two. Although several of our existing pages state that the departments were abolished, I can't find a ref[erence]. It is also clear from the above link that Richard Lochhead is i/c "Rural Affairs & the Environment", but his senior civil servant is the Director of "DG-Environment" and there does not seem to be a Rural Affairs & the Environment Directorate that the template anticipates. The Sco-Gov website seems to be resolute in not unravelling these arcane affairs. See also this draft. "

Any assistance would be appreciated. You can reply here or on my own talk page if you prefer. Ben  Mac  Dui  18:50, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Hi Ben MacDui.

I found the following:

"A new structure for Scotland's Government has been put in place, transforming the Departmental structure, moving from 9 Heads of Department, to a Strategic Board with the Permanent Secretary and 5 Directors General ( DG), with each DG having responsibility for driving one of the Government's strategic objectives. Directors General focus on the performance of the whole organisation against the Cabinet's agenda. The new structure means that the old Scottish Executive Departments no longer exist. Instead, each DG supports and manages a number of Directors, with these Directorates leading, presenting and developing policy for Ministers."

You can see the original here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/08/23162100/1

The whole issue isn't helped by the fact that even ministers still refer to departments!

Hope that helps a bit. A more transparent structure would help everyone! Boyswish (talk) 13:27, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, that's very helpful. Ben  Mac  Dui  14:39, 15 August 2009 (UTC)