The Scottish Executive will be renamed the Scottish Government this week in a major shake-up of identity.

Signs outside the six main government building will be the first to change, followed by official publications and the administration's website.

The Saltire will replace the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom on all official documents, it was confirmed yesterday.

A spokesman for the First Minister said the term Scottish Executive was "meaningless".

"The time is right to make this common-sense change, as the term Scottish government' far more accurately explains the good work that we do on behalf of the people of Scotland," he said.

However, opposition parties criticised the lack of consultation ahead of the change and expressed concern at the £100,000 it will cost to implement.

The prospect of changing the devolved administration's name from "executive" to "government" was first mooted in 2001 when Henry McLeish was First Minister.

Following opposition from Labour MPs at Westminster, the plan was ditched. Last year a commission headed by the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Steel which looked at increasing the powers of the Scottish parliament suggested changing the name to "government".

Research carried out last year found that many Scots were unaware of what the term "Scottish Executive" referred to.

Despite the change announced yesterday, the administration will still be referred to as the executive in all bills and contractual arrangements, as that is a requirement of the Scotland Act, which led to the setting up of the parliament.

Labour leader Wendy Alexander said she was "open-minded" about the name change.

"However, it is inconsistent with a professed desire for consensus, conversation, and co-operation to act unilaterally and without consultation," she added. "It is another sign that the trappings of office risk getting a higher priority than improving the lives of Scots."

A spokesman for the LibDems said: "Spending £100,000 to achieve (the name change) is both unnecessary and profligate."

A Tory spokesman said: "What an administration does and what it achieves in office is far more important than what it is called. If there is to be any change then it's got to be done at a minimum cost."

The First Minister's spokesman dismissed those concerns. "The research clearly shows that the term Scottish Executive is confusing or meaningless to people, which undermines the business of good government in Scotland," he said. "That has been recognised across the political parties and under successive administrations since 1999."

He defended the £100,000 cost of the design and development of the new name and replacing the signage.

"The bottom line is that this administration has already delivered savings of around £50m through our commitment to cutting bureaucracy and reversing wasteful decisions taken by the previous administration," he said.

"In other words, the cost of changing to Scottish Government' is just 0.2% of the savings we have already identified."