Why Scotland is struggling to fill its top jobs

Six-figure salaries. The ear of government ministers. A key role in shaping the future for Scotland’s children. Sound like dream jobs?

Yet both the roles of chief inspector of education and chief executive of Education Scotland remain unfilled. A lack of suitable candidates for what should be plum positions at the heart of the education sector have meant competitive recruitment processes could not be run.

They are not the only quangos suffering from a lack of stable leadership. The Scottish Funding Council, Transport Scotland, National Records of Scotland, the Scottish National Investment Bank and Historic Environment Scotland are among those that have had interim chief executives in recent times.

The troubled Water Industry Commission for Scotland has both an interim chief executive and chairman, partly