Audit Scotland () is an independent

public body A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

responsible for

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

ing most of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

's public organisations. These include the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

, local councils and

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly–funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland ...

Auditing role

It audits over 220 organisations, including: * 77 central government bodies (Scottish Government, NDPB's,

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the Unite ...

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households a ...

and others) * 23 NHS bodies * 32 local councils * 20

further education colleges Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

History

Audit Scotland was established in 2000. It employees a staff of around 250 people. Its corporate HQ is on West Port, in Edinburgh's Old Town. The role of Audit Scotland is to provide the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission for Scotland with the services they need to carry out their duties. The core work is to carry out: *

financial audit A financial audit is conducted to provide an opinion whether "financial statements" (the information is verified to the extent of reasonable assurance granted) are stated in accordance with specified criteria. Normally, the criteria are interna ...

s to help ensure that

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

bodies adhere to the highest standards of financial management and governance *

performance audit Performance audit refers to an independent examination of a program, function, operation or the management systems and procedures of a governmental or non-profit entity to assess whether the entity is achieving economy, efficiency and effectivenes ...

s to help ensure that these bodies achieve the best possible

value for money In economics, economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a good or service to an economic agent, and value for money represents an assessment of whether financial or other resources are being used effectively in order to secure such ...

. Stephen Boyle is the Auditor General for Scotland and the accountable officer for Audit Scotland. He started his term of office in July 2020. The work of Audit Scotland is governed by a

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

which meets around four times a year: the audits are managed by a management team. The Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee of the Scottish Parliament examines Audit Scotland's proposals for the use of resources and expenditure, then reports to the Scottish Parliament.

References

External links

* New Town, Edinburgh Organisations based in Edinburgh Public bodies of the Scottish Government

Public finance of Scotland 2000 establishments in Scotland Government agencies established in 2000 Auditing in the United Kingdom Auditing organizations {{finance-stub

Auditing role

History

See also

References

External links