17 March 2011 - Audit Scotland

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8. On 9 February, the Auditor General briefed the Public Audit Committee on the jointAccounts Commission/Auditor General Edinburgh trams – interim report. At meetings on23 February and 2 March, the Committee heard evidence from:Edinburgh City Council - Sue Bruce, Chief Executive; Donald McGougan, Director ofFinance; Dave Anderson, Director of City Development; and Alastair Maclean, Headof Legal and Administrative ServicesTIE - Richard Jeffrey, Chief ExecutiveTransport Scotland - David Middleton, Chief Executive; and Ainslie McLaughlin, Director of Major Transport Infrastructure Projects.The Committee may issue a statement on the Edinburgh trams project.9. At its meeting on 23 February, the Auditor General briefed the Public Audit Committeeon the joint Accounts Commission/Auditor General report on The cost of public sectorpensions in Scotland. The Committee agreed to include comments on the report withinits legacy paper and to refer the report to the Finance Committee for information.10. The Auditor General also briefed the Committee on the joint AccountsCommission/Auditor General report Maintaining Scotland’s roads: A follow-up report.The Committee also decided to include comments on this report in its legacy paper. TheCommittee also agreed to note correspondence from the Accountable Officer and theUK Government on Improving energy efficiency: A follow-up report.11. The Public Audit Committee has published its reports on Getting it right for children inresidential care and The Gathering 2009. Both are available for download from theScottish Parliament’s website.12. On 3 March, the Public Audit Committee led a debate in the Chamber on the keythemes that the Committee has considered throughout the current Parliamentarysession. The discussion covered transparency, data collection and qualitymeasurement, and governance. Hugh Henry MSP, PAC Convenor, commented on theCommittee’s inability to scrutinise local government expenditure or investigate reportsfrom Audit Scotland or the Accounts Commission that relate to local government issues.John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth,acknowledged the Committee’s frustration and noted the role of the AccountsCommission in scrutinising local government. The Official Report of the debate isavailable for download from the Scottish Parliament’s website.13. The current session of the Parliament ends on 22 March, and the Parliament will bedissolved with effect from 00:01 on 23 March in advance of the Scottish election on 5May.Other issues14. The Scottish Government has confirmed that all 32 councils had formally accepted thedetailed terms of the proposed funding settlement for 2011/12 by the deadline of 28February. As a result, the average cash reduction in resource budgets for 2011/12 willbe 2.6% rather than 6.4%. Amendments to the Local Government Finance Order 2011giving effect to this funding distribution and funding to compensate for councils freezingcouncil tax will be considered by the Parliament prior to dissolution.2
15. As part of the debate on the 2011/12 Scottish Budget, The Cabinet Secretary forFinance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney MSP, announced that he intended toallocate an additional £5 million to help smooth the impact of the redistribution of thisfunding within the 2011-12 local government finance settlement.16. On 3 March, Susan Deacon, Honorary Professor, School of Social and PoliticalScience, University of Edinburgh, has published her independent report for the ScottishGovernment on early years policy, Joining the dots: A better start for Scotland’schildren.Conclusion17. The Commission is invited to consider and note this report.Fraser McKinlayController of Audit, 9 March 20113
Page 1 and 2: The Accounts Commission for Scotlan
Page 3 and 4: Minutes of the meeting of the Accou
Page 5 and 6: 7. Update report by the Controller
Page 7 and 8: Following discussion, the Commissio
Page 9 and 10: 1. ApologiesApologies were received
Page 11: AGENDA ITEM 7Paper: AC.2011.3.3ACCO
Page 15: 8. The Cabinet Secretary has welcom
Page 33 and 34: authority accounts. This serves to
Page 36 and 37: 6. The Commission is invited to—N
Page 40 and 41: Appendix 3Procedures for a hearing
Page 42 and 43: Appendix 4A ‘special’ report by
Page 44 and 45: Appendix 5The Commission’s consid
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Page 48 and 49: Appendix 6Procedures for a hearing
Page 50 and 51: AGENDA ITEM 11Paper: AC.2011.3.9COD
Page 52 and 53: ForewordThe Code of Audit Practice
Page 54 and 55: Public bodies7. Those responsible f
Page 56 and 57: 20. Matters arising from local gove
Page 58 and 59: Audit work does not replace the nee
Page 60 and 61: have regard to any national priorit
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39. Auditors are required to carry
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Systems of internal controlStatemen
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esponses to developments which may
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work assigned to them in line with
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odies to manage contact appropriate
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110. Exceptionally, Audit Scotland
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Appendix 1Auditors’ statutory dut
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Appendix 2Public rights of inspecti
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Appendix 4Glossary of termsAuditWor
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Statement on internal controlDepend
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Maintaining Scotland’s RoadsThis
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An emergency motion was lodged at t
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Proposal to move fortnightly-paid c
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17 March 2011 - Audit Scotland

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