Independent Assessors play a vital part in ensuring that the principles of the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code are adhered to and that public appointments are made on a fair, open and transparent basis.As I made clear in my statement to Parliament last week, ministers have agreed that, in future, responsibility for appointing Assessors will transfer to the Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments once it has been established.However, in order to ensure that we have sufficient numbers of Assessors in place until such time as a Commissioner is set up, the Executive is today embarking on a recruitment campaign inviting members of the public to consider applying for these posts.