About us

Audit Scotland

We help the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission with monitoring public money...

Accounts Commission

The Accounts Commission holds local government bodies in Scotland to account…

Auditor General

The Auditor General for Scotland is responsible for the audit of most public bodies...
  Download a transcript of this video - RTF 43Kb

The Accounts Commission holds councils and other local government bodies in Scotland to account and helps them improve by reporting to the public on their performance.

We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government.

Read our Strategy 2021-26 which sets out our aims, the priorities we will use in fulfilling these aims, and the principles and approaches used to shape our reporting.

Read our latest newsletter. This newsletter updates councillors on the recent work of the Accounts Commission.

See our joint work programme with the Auditor General for Scotland to find out what we are planning to report on this year.

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New members

The Accounts Commission is looking for up to four members. If you are interested in this exciting opportunity, we would like to hear from you.

Our next meeting

Our next meeting takes place on 11 Aug 2022 and is broadcast via our livestream.

 

Our last meeting

  Download transcript of Andrew Cowie's  video - RTF 43Kb

Accounts Commission member Andrew Cowie shares a summary of our May 2022 meeting where we discussed a report on the finances of health and social care Integration Joint Boards, how we’re embedding equalities in our work and approved a report from our independent quality team, among other matters.

All meetings are recorded and can be obtained on request from info@audit-scotland.gov.uk.

Our latest report

  Download transcript of William Moyes'  video - RTF 85Kb

Local government in Scotland Overview 2022. Our Chair William Moyes provides an overview of our findings from the report.

Local government in Scotland Overview 2022.

Find more of our latest reports here

The Commission has adopted the following principles to help it guide its work and fulfil its responsibilities during the Covid-19 emergency.

  • The Commission recognises the significant pressures under which local government finds itself as a result of the current Covid-19 emergency.
  • The Commission is of the firm view that the principles of sound financial management, good governance, public accountability and transparency are vital in this emergency situation, although how these are delivered and achieved are likely to be different.
  • The Commission therefore expects audit quality to be maintained in accordance with international standards and the Code of Audit Practice.
  • The Commission is mindful of both the capacity of local authorities to prepare good-quality financial reports, and the auditors they appoint to deliver high-quality audit, when considering timescales for 2019/20.

Latest news

Clarity on Covid-19 spending remains vital

June 16, 2022

The Scottish Government moved at pace with its partners to respond financially to the pandemic. But public sector leaders need to be clearer about how one-off Covid-19 funding is being...

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What we do

Download the Commission's role, duties and powers (PDF | 47KB)

Find out more about each of the areas below:

annual audits

Annual audit reports
 

Auditing the accounts of all councils in Scotland

best value

Best Value reports
 

Reporting on councils' duty of continuous improvement

local government overview

Local government overview

Reporting on local government's financial and overall performance

performance

Performance audit reports  

Auditing the efficiency and effectiveness of services

statutory reports

Statutory reports
 

Highlighting issues found in a council's annual audit

housing benefit

Housing benefit audit
 

Reporting on councils'  benefit services

council performance

Council performance reporting

Specifying what performance information councils must publish

local government scrutiny

Local government scrutiny

Working with other bodies to improve the scrutiny of councils

how councils work

How councils work reports

Providing practical support to help improvement in local government

 

Who we engage with

The public in general are our principal stakeholder but we engage with a wide range of others.

Engaging with stakeholders

Who we engage with:

  • Audit Scotland
  • Auditor General
  • Citizens
  • Parliament and Government: Government ministers, MSPs, Parliament committees
  • Local government: councils, joint boards, COSLA, SLGP, SOLACE, Improvement Service
  • Councils' community planning partners: public, private and third sectors, local communities
  • Other stakeholders: Equalities and Human Rights Commission, other UK audit and scrutiny bodies, professional bodies, trade unions
  • Press and broadcasting media
  • Scrutiny partners
  • Private sector audit firms

Other information

 

Latest publications