Scotlands audit chief outlines top priorities

27 May 04
Delivering the new in-depth auditing arrangements for Scotland's councils will be one of the main priorities of the controller of audit, Caroline Gardner, whose appointment was announced last week.

28 May 2004

Delivering the new in-depth auditing arrangements for Scotland's councils will be one of the main priorities of the controller of audit, Caroline Gardner, whose appointment was announced last week.

The Accounts Commission, the body responsible for overseeing the audit of Scotland's local authorities, last year announced plans to audit all 32 councils on their overall performance, including Best Value. A report on Angus Council – the first of seven councils to be audited this year under the new system – is expected this summer.

Gardner told Public Finance that the first report would be significant for the commission in demonstrating the new audit approach and in giving a rounded picture of how councils were performing in the context of Best Value. The arrangements, she said, would allow this to be done in a constructive and challenging way.

The controller said her second priority would be to look again at ways of identifying significant issues coming out of the audit. 'It is important the commission gets good information on what is happening in local government, so it can decide how best it can use its powers and responsibilities to support good and strong local government,' she said.

Gardner will continue in her role as deputy to auditor general Bob Black, who is responsible for the audit of all public bodies in Scotland apart from councils. She also remains head of Audit Scotland's performance audit group.

But her controller role includes a new responsibility as a result of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 – reporting the outcome of the new Best Value audits in local government.

Gardner's appointment as controller, in succession to Ronnie Hinds, who left earlier this year to take up a post with the City of Edinburgh Council, follows a restructuring of management at Audit Scotland. She explained that part of the aim was to make sure the roles and responsibilities were better integrated.

'It is the result of tidying up the formal and operational responsibilities for stakeholder reporting,' she said.

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