Caroline Jane Gardner was the

Auditor General for Scotland The auditor general for Scotland (AGS) is the public official in charge of the Audit Scotland, the body responsible for auditing most of Scottish public bodies, except local authorities. The auditor general oversees the scrutiny of how public m ...

between June 2012 and July 2020. She is a former president of

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is a UK based organisation for accountants who work in the public sector, accounting firms and other professional bodies where management of public funds are required. CIPFA is the ...

(CIPFA) 2006−7.

Career

Gardiner is originally from London. She studied for her CIPFA exams while working as a trainee accountant at the Wolverhampton Borough council. She moved to Edinburgh in 1995, taking up the post of director of health and social work studies at the Accounts Commission. When

Audit Scotland Audit Scotland () is an independent public body responsible for auditing most of Scotland's public organisations. These include the Scottish Government, local councils and NHS Scotland. Auditing role It audits over 220 organisations, includin ...

was created in 2000, she became the deputy auditor general. She was a member of the CIPFA Council since 2000. She was the chair of CIPFA in Scotland in 2001−2002. She became CIPFA's 116th president, from June 2006 to June 2007. She was seconded as the

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

of the

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in 2010. After this she spent a short period freelancing. In March 2012, the Scottish Parliament decided that Caroline Gardner should succeed Robert Black. In July she took up the position of Auditor General, and Accountable Officer for Audit Scotland. She was in office at the onset of the

United Kingdom government austerity programme The United Kingdom government austerity programme was a fiscal policy that was adopted for a period in the early 21st century following the era of the Great Recession. Coalition and Conservative governments in office from 2010 to 2019 used the ...

, where there was a reduction in public services to repay debt incurred after the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. She was succeed in the role by Stephen Boyle in July 2020. In March 2024 she was appointed by the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

as Honorary Professor at the Centre for Public Policy.

Honours

In March 2016, Gardner was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, Scotland's National Academy for science and letters. She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to the Scottish public sector.

References

External links

profile
at Audit Scotland website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Caroline Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Scottish accountants British women accountants Women chief financial officers Civil servants from London Political office-holders in Scotland Scottish economists British women economists Financial economists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century British women civil servants Scottish women civil servants