Audit Scotland Annual Report 2007 08

Informations

• Publié par: Nifong
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• Langue: English

Extrait

Holding to account and helping to improve
Audit Scotland
Annual Report 2007/08Audit Scotland helps the Auditor General and the Accounts
Commission ensure that public money in Scotland is used
properly, efficiently and effectively. Our aim is to hold public
bodies to account and help them improve. Audit Scotland
audits the majority of devolved public services in Scotland.
We audit about 200 public bodies in Scotland which spend
more than £31 billion a year.
This annual report is organised around the key themes
of Audit Scotland’s corporate plan, which are:
• supporting effective democratic scrutiny
• maximising the value of the audit
• building an effective and efficient organisation.
You will find the report structured to reflect these priorities. Our Year
Audit Scotland Annual Report 2007/08 02/03
Contents
04 Our year
04 Highlights
04 Welcome
06 Our performance
06 Supporting effective democratic scrutiny
06 Reporting in public
09 Monitoring financial management and governance
14 Best Value in Scotland’s public services
16 Further supporting democratic scrutiny
19 Maximising the value of the audit
19 Refining the audit
21 Diversity and equality
24 Building an effective and efficient organisation
24 Training our staff and developing our leaders
25 Managing our resources
29 Our organisation
29 Our people
32 Our governance
35 Our financial performance
39 Appendices
39 Appendix 1. Where we fit in
41 Appendix 2. Audit Scotland’s public performance reports
Audit Scotland Annual Report 2007/08
Our year
Welcome from the Auditor General and the chair
of the Audit Scotland Board
Welcome to Audit Scotland’s annual A glance at the case studies in this
Highlights of 2007/08 report for 2007/08. report will give you a real flavour of
the breadth, depth and sheer variety 201 final annual audit reports This year has seen major of work in which Audit Scotland produced developments in moving towards a is now involved. From high-profile
more integrated scrutiny landscape, reviews of key policy areas such as 18 public performance reports
illustrated by the Crerar report and the free personal care, to rapid analysis of published
response of the Scottish Government capital projects such as the Edinburgh
100 per cent of all audits (see page 16). Audit Scotland will transport projects review, our work
completed on time have a key role to play on behalf of this past year has had major local
the Auditor General and the Accounts and national impact. It can also have Audit Scotland auditors produced
Commission in supporting this major financial impact. Our work on 530 separate reports for the 201
changing environment. Indeed, we the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) public bodies they audited
are already participating in the follow- in 2007/08 identified £9.7 million
97 per cent of local government up discussions set up by the Scottish of overpayments and savings in
bodies and 86 per cent of central Government. Scotland. Cumulative savings from the
government bodies thought Audit NFI have now reached £37 million.
Scotland provided a high-quality Audit Scotland works hard to place
audit service the minimum burden on public bodies The keynote of Audit Scotland is our
wherever possible. Where they share independence and professionalism. £9.7 million overpayments and
a common interest, joint studies for At the same time as we are savings achieved by the National
the Auditor General and the Accounts anticipating ever more financial Fraud Initiative
Commission are already conducted pressures on public services, we have
An independent review of the by Audit Scotland as a single exercise. seen a year of political change at local
Best Value process found it was Details of such joint reports are and national level. There is an ever
‘well established, credible and has contained in this annual report. The growing appetite for independent
been effective in contributing to fact that we have a single organisation scrutiny. Our services are continually
improvement’ delivering audit across the public in demand and the results of our
sector allows us to have this joined-up studies rarely out of the news.
Audit Scotland staff presented to approach.
more than 50 external seminars,
conferences and training events As we say elsewhere in this report,
we continue to work hard to support Audit Scotland staff served on
the Scottish Parliament and its Audit 54 external bodies and working
Committee in their roles. We also groups
carried out a series of visits and
314,000 visits to our website since meetings with our key clients and
its relaunch in September 2007 stakeholders following the local and
national elections in May 2007. Our Year
Our year 04/05
A glance at the case studies in this report will ‘‘give you a real flavour of the breadth, depth
and sheer variety of work in which Audit
Scotland is now involved. ’’
All of this makes for a busy, interesting, Commission and of the Audit Scotland
and often challenging time for the Board. Alastair was six years with
staff of Audit Scotland whose work is the Commission. His work was also
highlighted, and who are featured, in recognised in the December honours
this report. list when he was awarded the OBE for
services to local government. We also
Finally, we would like to take this wish to thank Bill Magee who retired
opportunity to record our sincere from the position of secretary to the
thanks to Alastair MacNish who retired board and to the Commission after many
from his posts as chair of the Accounts years of excellent advice and service.
John Baillie
Chair of the Audit
Scotland Board
Robert W Black
Auditor General
for Scotland and
Accountable Officer
Audit Scotland Annual Report 2007/08
Our performance
Supporting effective democratic scrutiny
on what happens to Audit Scotland Supporting Parliament
Reporting in public reports once they are published and In 2007/08, the Scottish Parliament’s how the Scottish Parliament reviews • Helping Parliament understand Audit Committee held evidence and uses them, see Appendix 1 on and act on the issues facing sessions on three of our reports, page 39.public services. Dealing with offending by young
• Reporting on government-wide people, Police call management and As public services are increasingly performance. Overview of Scotland’s health and delivered across traditional sector • Highlighting issues of NHS performance 2006/07.boundaries, many of our reports cover governance, accountability and
more than one sector. Typically these performance. The committee called the relevant will include local government, so we Scottish Government accountable prepare these across-government officers to give evidence and answer Public reporting programme reports for both the Auditor General questions about issues raised in and the Accounts Commission. Our public reporting work covers the reports. In the case of Dealing An example of this is our report key areas of public interest. We with offending by young people, the Improving the school estate, which develop our forward work programme committee also asked the Community looked at completed and planned after extensive consultation with Safety Minister to give evidence.work worth almost £10 billion across stakeholders and audited bodies to
local and central government.target areas where we can support The Auditor General and the chair of the
improvement in public services. We Accounts Commission gave evidence In 2007/08, we published 18 public also carry out some studies in response to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into performance reports. This was fewer to external requests to investigate the effective use of police resources. than in some previous years, partly particular issues when we believe it is in This evidence drew on the Police call due to the national and local elections the public interest. management report and our audit work in May 2007 during which time in police authorities. Audit Scotland Audit Scotland followed a six-week The reports we produce are presented staff also briefed the Health and Sport embargo on issuing reports, in line in four themes: Committee on cost pressures in the with public sector practice. NHS, and gave evidence to the Finance
• Central government Committee’s inquiry into methods of In 2007/08 we published:• Health and community care funding public capital projects.
• Local government
2 Central government reports• Across-government. Many of our reports in 2007/08 3 NHS reports highlighted the need for public 7 Local government reports*Reports on the central government sector bodies to develop more 6 Across-government reports.sector and the health and community rigorous approaches to performance
care sector are prepared for the monitoring and reporting, and to focus *Four Best Value reports and three other Auditor General and in some cases, local government reports more on outputs and outcomes.
where there is joint responsibility, At the moment it can be difficult to
for the Auditor General and the Full details of all our reports published find robust evidence that particular
Accounts Commission. Reports on in 2007/08 are in Appendix 2 on policy initiatives or developments are
local government are prepared for page 41. actually delivering best value. Our
the Accounts Commission. For more local government Best Valu