We help the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission with monitoring public money...
The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government...
The Auditor General for Scotland is responsible for the audit of most public bodies...
The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government. We hold councils in Scotland to account and help them improve.
We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government and we meet and report in public.
The Commission is responsible for coordinating and facilitating scrutiny in local government.
The Controller of Audit is a statutory post established alongside the Commission in 1975. The Controller reports to the Commission and highlights areas of concern.
Read more about the Commission's role, duties and powers (PDF | 47KB). - Opens in a new window
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The Commission has adopted the following principles to help it guide its work
and fulfil its responsibilities during the Covid-19 emergency:
North Ayrshire Council has demonstrated a culture of continuous improvement since a previous report by the Accounts Commission in 2011. The council continues to improve and, alongside its...
Covid-19 has resulted in significant disruption for public bodies and to auditors of the public sector. Due to this, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission for...
The Commission publishes financial audits on each council in Scotland and an annual overview report on local government, as well as individual reports about council services.
Our strategy and annual action plan outlines our priorities for the coming year. Read more about our strategy.
Find out more about what we do in our short video.
Our annual overview found that most of Scotland's councils are increasingly relying on money from reserves to keep up with demand for services and balance their budgets.
Argyll and Bute Council needs to build on its good financial management and relationship with residents as it looks to change the way it delivers services.
City deals have been positive for Scotland's economy, but the government does not have a plan to measure their overall long-term success, say public spending watchdogs.
As well as auditing all local authorities in Scotland, the Commission looks at any issues arising from those audits and how well bodies are meeting Best Value duties. Find out more about each of the areas below:
The Commission is keen, as the public watchdog, that it conducts its business as transparently as possible. Since its meeting on 7 May, the Commission has been meeting virtually. Video recordings of these meetings are available. Contact us if you would like a copy.
At its June meeting, the Commission:
The public in general are our principal stakeholder but we engage with a wide range of others.
Who we engage with:
Audit Scotland
