The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland, or OCPAS, was established to create and regulate the process by which people are appointed to the boards of many of Scotland’s public bodies. A full list of the bodies regulated by OCPAS can be found on this website.

Appointments to these bodies are made by Scottish Ministers, who rely on a team of people to identify and recommend to them suitable candidates for appointment. The process followed by the team is open and transparent. It ensures that only people with appropriate skills, knowledge and experience are recommended to Ministers. All vacancies are publicised and people who wish to be considered must submit an application and be assessed against the skills, knowledge and experience required by the body in question. Every application is handled in the same way, to ensure equality of opportunity for all. Thus, the people of Scotland can be reassured that the individuals selected to run our public bodies are people with relevant experience and expertise who have been appointed on merit.

More information on the public appointments process is available from the Frequently Asked Questions page.

OCPAS was established under the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 and Karen Carlton was appointed as the first Scottish Commissioner in June 2004.

The Commissioner
Karen is passionate about her role as the Commissioner. Her first task was to publish and have adopted a Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland. A copy of the Code can be downloaded here.
Karen is equally passionate about the value of people who hold public appointments and their contribution to the quality of life in Scotland. She is working to find ways to encourage a much wider group of Scottish citizens to contribute to the well-being of the nation through a commitment to public appointments and, through these appointments, to public life. This ambition will be embodied in a strategy to be published later in 2006.

The OCPAS Assessors
Karen is supported in her work by a group of experienced OCPAS Assessors who play a key role in every appointment. OCPAS Assessors are part of the team which identifies suitable people for appointment. They provide assurance that the processes used to select individuals comply with the Commissioner’s code.

Karen, her team at OCPAS and the team of Assessors, are not employed by the Scottish Parliament nor the Scottish Executive. They are independent watchdogs whose role is to ensure that appointments are made in a way which is free from bias. Their vision is to contribute to the delivery of effective public services by ensuring that Ministers are provided with a choice of quality candidates for each board appointment, candidates with relevant experience and expertise who reflect the whole of Scottish society.