05 December 2003
Audit Scotland is to appoint a managing director of audit services, a new post that has been created as part of a major reorganisation, it was disclosed this week.
The £95,000-a-year job has been described as a senior, influential position charged with driving forward the modernisation of auditing and the delivery of the Best Value audit. It was due to be advertised on December 5 and 12.
The new director will be responsible for the management of across-the-board services in Audit Scotland, including the audit of government, the National Health Service and local authorities.
Final decisions have yet to be made on the delivery of functions currently carried out by the controller of audit, who reports to the Accounts Commission on the local authority audit.
The former controller, Ronnie Hinds, this week returned to the City of Edinburgh Council as head of corporate finance, a post he held some years ago. Hinds' decision to move was disclosed in Public Finance in October.
Auditor general Bob Black will temporarily take on the extra role of controller of audit until a decision is made on the future of the post, a statutory appointment made by the first minister.
The decision to create the all-embracing managing director post follows an organisational review of Audit Scotland. This has been looking at how its services might be improved and delivered differently at a time of increasing emphasis on Best Value.
A spokesman said Audit Scotland was looking for a managing director who would 'power our commitment to ongoing improvements in all public bodies in Scotland'.
He said that, although there was still a need for routine audit work, the aim was to take a more 'risk-based' approach by focusing on some of the big issues affecting the public bodies that were audited by Audit Scotland. 'That means a new approach for our staff and some internal reorganisation,' the spokesman added.
He indicated that the controller of audit function was likely to be handled 'slightly differently' in the future.
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