Top civil servant to face MSPs probing the way Government makes decisions

Scotland’s most senior civil servant is to be questioned by MSPs as they continue an inquiry into Government decision-making.

MSPs on the Finance and Public Administration Committee are to hear from permanent secretary John-Paul Marks.

The committee, which is conducting an inquiry into effective decision-making in the Scottish Government, has already complained that the process is “generally unclear and unstructured” – though this has been rejected by the Government.

Mr Marks, who became permanent secretary in January 2022, could also be quizzed about his progress against targets, since he replaced Leslie Evans in the role.

And he could be asked about the appropriateness of having civil servants working for the independence minister Jamie Hepburn – an issue which was raised by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack in a letter to the head of the UK Civil Service,  Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

Tuesday’s evidence session with Mr Marks comes after the committee stated that the “increasingly binary nature” of Scottish politics was “impacting on effective decision-making”.

The Scottish Government, meanwhile, has stressed that it has a “number of processes which are routinely taken when making important policy decisions”.

A spokesperson said that representatives from the Government “look forward to giving evidence to the committee in the near future on this report”.