Audit Scotland
Covid-19
Covid-19 has had far-reaching consequences for Scotland's public services and finances, and it will continue to have an impact in the future.
This e-hub brings together the Covid-19 related reports we've produced so far, as well as other resources.
Latest from our blog
Transparency needed to follow pandemic pound
By Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland
BEFORE coronavirus changed life as we know it, the Scottish Government was facing some very real financial challenges.
They knew the NHS would continue to absorb more of the Scottish budget (41 per cent in 2019/20) without big changes to service delivery and faster integration of health and social care. Those problems largely remain.
Other knot-filled folders sat on ministers’ desks. They included ones marked police and local government funding; Brexit; and managing the volatility of new tax and social security powers. Most of those challenges remain.
Read the full article ' Transparency needed to follow pandemic pound ' on Wordpress
Covid-19: Tracking the implications of Covid-19 on Scotland's public finances How Scotland tackles inequality is my top priority
By Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland
Covid-19 has disproportionately affected Scotland’s most vulnerable citizens, and there is risk that it will widen the gap between the haves and have-nots.
How the Scottish Government and public bodies respond to that challenge will be a big focus of our audit work in the months and years ahead.
Poverty is on the rise and mass unemployment is being predicted on a scale not seen since the early 1990s. All at a time when you are already twice as likely to die with Covid-19 if you live in one of this country's most deprived areas.
Read the full article 'How Scotland tackles inequality is my top priority' on Wordpress
Covid-19: responding, adapting and building for the future, Scotland's Strategic Scrutiny bodies
By Elma Murray, Interim Chair, Strategic Scrutiny Group and Interim Chair, Accounts Commission
Covid-19 has changed our society and economy in profound ways. The immediate and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 are ever-present, shifting the ways in which we live and dominating the delivery of public services.
The pace of change has been rapid and, in many ways, this is welcome. However that speed also presents risks to public services and the potential for increased exclusion.
Central to providing citizens with ongoing reassurance about how public services are being provided, alongside the approach to rebuilding and renewing those services, will be regulation, inspection and audit by Scotland’s scrutiny bodies.
Covid-19 must mean lasting change for our NHS
By Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a huge change in our health and care services in a very short time.
The terrible human cost of that first wave is felt strongly by all of us, particularly those of us who lost loved ones. And we know that the impact of the pandemic hasn’t been equally shared and that it’s the most vulnerable people who have suffered the most.
We’ve been monitoring Covid-19’s impact as part of my annual NHS overview work.
The two main things we’re focussed on is how the NHS in Scotland responded to coronavirus and what lessons can be learned, and secondly the financial and operational implications of the pandemic.
Read the full article'Covid-19 must mean lasting change for our NHS' on Wordpress
Latest Covid-19 reports
Fiscal events and Covid-19 timeline
The Scottish and UK governments have had to respond quickly to the emerging pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been the biggest fiscal and policy challenge facing the Scottish Government over the past two decades of devolution. Expected devolved public spending has increased by around 15 per cent since the 2020/21 Scottish budget was first agreed in February 2020 and is subject to significant and continuing revision. Before the pandemic hit, the budget had faced unusual uncertainty with the UK budget being delayed due to the general election, and remains subject to unprecedented uncertainty, volatility and complexity.
Future Covid-19 audit work
Phases 1 to 4 of our audit work
Audit Scotland is committed to helping Parliament and the public understand how public money has been used during this crisis and ensure lessons are learned for the future. The complex and dynamic nature of the Covid-19 crisis means we will need to take a phased approach.
Phase 1 (short term)
- Briefing the Scottish Parliament on emerging audit risks linked to the public sector response to Covid-19.
- Considering what this means for our future work programme and the work of the Parliament’s Public Audit and Post Legislative Scrutiny Committee (PAPLS).
Phase 2 (medium term)
- Developing the work programme to consider the impact of Covid-19 on:
- specific sectors (eg, NHS, further and higher education, justice, local government)
- policy commitments (eg, early learning and childcare expansion, addressing child poverty)
- thematic issues raised by Covid-19 (eg, the impact on Scotland’s public finances, fraud risk management, inequalities).
Phase 3 (longer term)
- Identifying lessons that can be learnt from the public sector’s response.
- Assessing the outcomes achieved from key Scottish Government spending and programmes related to Covid-19.
- Aligning our work programme with the Scottish Government’s work to rebuild Scotland’s economy, remove inequality and advance wellbeing.
Overview
Economic & fiscal
Public services
Equalities
Collaborative leadership
Adaptation & innovation
Digital
Community engagement
Governance & accountability
