Non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government

Public bodies of the Scottish Government are organisations that are funded by the Scottish Government. It is a tightly meshed network of executive and advisory non-departmental public bodies ("quangoes"); tribunals; and nationalised industries.

These public bodies are distinct from executive agencies of the Scottish Government, as they are not considered to be part of the Government and staff of public bodies are not civil servants.

The Scottish Government is responsible for appointing a board of directors to run public bodies. The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland is responsible for regulating the process.

Public bodies are assigned "sponsoring departments" who provide funding in the form of grant-in-aid to assist with running costs and capital investment. Most public bodies also have other sources of income (for example the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh receives income from charging the public to visit the greenhouses in its gardens).

...
Wikipedia