17 March 2011 - Audit Scotland

For local government bodiesAuditors’ statutory duties for local government bodies are contained principally within Part VII ofthe Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. These are to:audit the financial statements and place a certificate (ie, independent auditors’ report) onthe statements stating that the audit has been conducted in accordance with Part VII ofthe Actsatisfy themselves that:oooothe financial statements have been prepared in accordance with all applicablestatutory requirementsproper accounting practices have been observed in the preparation of thefinancial statementsthe body has made proper arrangements for securing Best Value and iscomplying with its community planning duties 2a local authority has made adequate arrangements for collecting, recording andpublishing prescribed performance informationhear any objection to the financial statements lodged by an interested person.Auditors should also be familiar with the responsibilities in Section 102 of the Local Government(Scotland) Act 1973, summarised in Appendix 3.2The Accounts Commission has approved arrangements under Section 53 of the Local Government inScotland Act 2003 so that a team in Audit Scotland is primarily responsible for discharging the auditors’responsibilities in this area – providing overall conclusions on a local government body’s arrangements in apublic report by the Controller of Audit. The auditor is a key member of this team.26