The Council of Assembly has the following remit and powers:

1. To implement the plan of re-organisation and structural change of the agencies of the General Assembly as formulated by the Assembly Council and approved by the General Assembly of 2004.

2. To monitor, evaluate and co-ordinate the work of the agencies of the General Assembly, within the context of policy determined by the Assembly. 

3. To advise the General Assembly on the relative importance of work being undertaken by its various agencies.

4. To receive reports from, offer guidance and issue instructions to agencies of the General Assembly as required from time to time on matters of management, organisation and administration.

5. To bring recommendations to the General Assembly concerning the total amount of the Church's co-ordinated budget for the following financial year and the disposition thereof amongst Local Mission, Parish Staffing and the Mission and Renewal Fund.

6. To determine the allocation of the total budgets for the following financial year for Parish Staffing and the Mission and Renewal Fund amongst the relevant agencies of the General Assembly and ecumenical bodies.

7. To prepare and present to the General Assembly an indicative rolling budget for the following five financial years.

8. To receive and distribute unrestricted legacies and donations amongst the agencies of the General Assembly with power to specify the use to which the same are to be applied.

9. To consider and decide on proposals from agencies of the General Assembly to purchase heritable property or any other asset (except investments) valued in excess of £50,000 or lease any heritable property where the annual rental exceeds £10,000 per annum, declaring that no agency save those referred to in section 18 hereof shall proceed to purchase or lease such property without prior approval from the Council. 

10. To consider and decide on proposals from agencies of the General Assembly, save those referred to in section 18 hereof, to sell or lease for a period in excess of five years or otherwise dispose of any heritable property, or sell or otherwise dispose of any asset (except investments) valued in excess of £50,000, held by or on behalf of that agency, with power to allocate all or part of the sale or lease proceeds to another agency or agencies in terms of section 11 hereof.

11. To reallocate following upon consultation with the agency or agencies affected unrestricted funds held by or on behalf of any of the agencies of the General Assembly to another agency or agencies with power to specify the use to which the same are to be applied.

12. To determine staffing and resourcing requirements of agencies of the General Assembly, including inter-departmental sharing or transfer of staff, in accordance with policies drawn up by the Council of Assembly in line with priorities approved by the General Assembly, it being declared that the term "staffing" shall not include those appointed or employed to serve either in particular parishes or overseas.

13. To consult with the relevant councils an dagencies in their appointment of council secretaries to the Church and Society, Ministries, Mission and Discipleship, Social Care and World Mission Councils, to appoint the ecumenical officer, the director of stewardship, the head of media relations and the personnel manager and to nominate individuals to the General Assembly for appointment to the offices of principal clerk of the General Assembly, depute clerk of the General Assembly, general treasurer of the Church and solicitor of the Church.

14. To keep under review the central administration of the Church, with particular regard to resolving issues of duplication of resources.

15. To attend to the general interests of the Church in matters which are not covered by the remit of any other agency.

16. To deal with urgent issues arising between meetings of the General Assembly, provided that (a) these do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Commission of Assembly or of any presbytery or kirk session,
(b) they are not of a legislative or judicial nature and
(c) any action taken in terms of this clause shall be reported to the next General Assembly.

17. To encourage all agencies of the General Assembly to work ecumenically wherever possible and to have regard to the international, evangelical and catholic nature of the Church.

18. For the avoidance of doubt, section 9 and section 10 shall not apply to the Church of Scotland General Trustees, the Church of Scotland Housing and Loan Fund for Retired Ministers and Widows and Widowers of Ministers and the New Charge Development Committee and its successor body all of which may deal with heritable property and other assets without the approval of the Council.

Note: For the purposes only of this remit, the term agencies shall mean the following bodies being Standing Committees of the General Assembly as at May 2004, namely:

The Boards of: Communication, Ministry, National Mission, Parish Education, Practice and Procedure, Social Responsibility, Stewardship and Finance and World Mission, together with their constituent committees.



The following Committees: Artistic Matters, Central Co-ordinating, Chaplains to Her Majesty's Forces, Church and Nation, Education, Ecumenical Relations Committee and the Parish Development Fund.



The Panels on Doctrine and Worship and their successor bodies (if applicable) constituted with effect from 1 June 2005.