Audit Scotland

The Scottish Government founded the National Investment Bank to invest public money in businesses and projects that address persistent, long-term challenges in Scotland. £2bn was earmarked to oversee the Bank’s first 10 years of operation, with a focus on addressing the climate crisis, transforming communities, and scaling up innovation and technology.  Our audit this spring will assess the clarity of the Bank’s purpose, and how well it is establishing itself to deliver innovation across Scotland. More information about the focus of the audit is available on our website: https://lnkd.in/eMzcrFmc

In the March meeting of the Accounts Commission, members discussed the upcoming report on Argyll and Bute Council.   An additional topic covered was the joint Audit Scotland and Accounts Commission diversity, equality and inclusion strategy. This includes a vision for DEI in public audit and four aspects of how we will deliver on that vision:   - Setting equality outcomes - Mainstreaming equality - Improving employee information - Impact assessing our work   There’s more about these items and the other topics covered at the meeting in Jennifer Henderson's summary video.   The Accounts Commission holds councils and other local government bodies in Scotland to account and helps them improve by reporting to the public on their performance.   More about some of the Commission’s work:   Best Value: https://lnkd.in/eD6JW4kr Local Government overview: https://lnkd.in/ecyc8M9w Performance audits: https://lnkd.in/eMX9BTtf

On behalf of the Accounts Commission, Audit Scotland has undertaken an analysis of the Integration Joint Boards’ annual accounts for 2023/24 and the annual audit reports produced by local auditors. The data and analysis is published as an interactive online tool. It allows you to explore the financial performance of individual IJBs, as well as comparing IJBs.  The tool includes data on the funding and income and reserves position, outturn budget position, savings performance, and financial outlook.  It also includes local and national contextual data from the 2022 census that illustrates the increasing population pressures nationally and the significant variation across Scotland. Try the interactive data tool on the Audit Scotland website: https://lnkd.in/eEDRX6yB

The Accounts Commission’s next meeting will take place on Thursday 13 March, where they’ll be discussing the performance and services of Argyll and Bute Council. You’re welcome to join in person or online by emailing: acsupport@audit-scotland.gov.uk Agenda and papers are available here: https://lnkd.in/eA9xBSAt

New blog from the Accounts Commission: 'Integration Joint Boards finances continue to be precarious': https://lnkd.in/eJ2udfxA Integration Joint Boards plan and commission local health and social care services. Accounts Commission members, Malcolm Bell and Angela Leitch summarise the findings of the Commission’s recent publication ‘Integration Joint Boards' Finance Bulletin 2023/24’. In their blog, they highlight ongoing and deepening concerns about risks across health and social care. Visit our 'Transforming health and social care in Scotland' page to find out more about our work in this area: https://lnkd.in/eAS_SWjf

Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) must urgently work with their partners in the NHS and councils to reform how they deliver services to achieve financial sustainability. In a new report, the Accounts Commission say that reform is urgently needed to tackle precarious health and social care finances: https://lnkd.in/ecwRbwJY Scotland’s IJBs plan and commission many vital community-based health and social care services. The Accounts Commission warns that IJBs cannot manage future financial pressures in isolation – collaboration across IJBs and between council and NHS partners is vital. The continuing high turnover of chief executive and chief financial officers is worrying at a time when strong and stable collaborative leadership is crucial. IJB funding has increased in the past year, but there is ongoing overspending, running down of reserves and reliance on one-off savings. During 2023/24, reserves were depleted by 40 per cent, with the projected funding gap for services increasing from £357 million in 2023/24 to £457 million in 2024/25. This will hinder IJBs’ ability to address future budget gaps and make them less able to meet unexpected costs. IJBs, alongside their NHS and council partners, need to be transparent with communities about what this means for services, and collaborate to plan for the major reforms required. Malcolm Bell, Member of the Accounts Commission: “For too long, Integration Joint Boards have been fire-fighting immediate financial challenges. Now they must shift from making one-off savings and relying on reserves to transform how services are delivered if they are to tackle their precarious finances. “A stronger focus on prevention is needed, with candid conversations with communities, councils and NHS partners vital around the difficult choices that need to be made.” Read the report on the Audit Scotland website: https://lnkd.in/ecwRbwJY

Your Friday five-minute read is a new article from the Equality and Human Rights Commission: 'Digital exclusion: in conversation with Audit Scotland' In August, a joint report by the Auditor General and Accounts Commission looked at how well the public sector in Scotland are tackling digital exclusion and what more they can do. They said that not enough is being done to make sure people can get online, and that clearer leadership and focus is needed to tackle the harms caused by digital exclusion. Jillian Matthew, a Senior Auditor at Audit Scotland reflects on the findings, in conversation with Katharine Weatherhead from EHRC's Scotland Compliance team. Read the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/ea7Gcnmg

Out now: An Auditor General and Accounts Commission joint briefing on Additional Support for Learning (ASL) provision in Scotland: https://lnkd.in/e_2e7EvW The Scottish Government and councils must fundamentally rethink how they plan, fund and staff additional support for learning as part of core school education in Scotland. Since legislation in 2004 to make ASL more inclusive, there has been an eight-fold increase in pupils recorded as receiving ASL; currently 40 per cent of Scottish pupils – or 285,000 children – receive ASL. Almost all support is now delivered in mainstream classrooms, and it has become an increasingly central part of what teachers do.  The Scottish Government failed to plan for the impacts of this inclusive approach, and poor data means it is not possible to determine the scale, complexity and nature of needs across Scotland. The Scottish Government and councils urgently need better information to understand pupils’ needs and appropriate level of resource to support them. There is a wide gap in outcomes for pupils receiving additional support compared with other pupils, including being more likely to be absent or excluded from school. More appropriate ways of measuring the achievements of pupils who receive ASL are still to be developed.  Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland:  "The Scottish Government has failed to plan effectively for its inclusive approach to additional support for learning. Current gaps in data mean it is unclear whether all children’s right to have an education that fully develops their personality, talents and abilities is being met. “The Scottish Government and councils urgently need better quality data to understand pupils’ additional support needs and the resources required to provide support to enable all pupils to reach their full potential.” Ruth MacLeod, Member of the Accounts Commission: “Councils and the Scottish Government must fundamentally rethink how additional support for learning is planned and provided as a core part of Scotland’s school education. This includes reviewing how mainstream and special education is provided to meet current and future additional support needs and demands. “It is critical they work with pupils, parents and carers and staff throughout this process.”  The full report and an easy read summary are available on the Audit Scotland website: https://lnkd.in/e_2e7EvW

New report coming tomorrow: Additional Support for Learning in Scotland. The scale, growth and variation in the demand for additional support for learning (ASL) present significant challenges to The Scottish Government and Scotland's councils.  These challenges have been highlighted previously in an independent review in 2020, an Accounts Commission blog in 2022 and most recently in a report from The Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee in May 2024. Tomorrow, in a joint report, the Auditor General and Accounts Commission will look at how well the Scottish Government and councils are addressing the demand for ASL. There is more detail on what will be covered on the Audit Scotland website: https://lnkd.in/ePPGXYWn

In recent years, Fife Council has been able to deliver services without having to make significant savings. But it has now reached a turning point. Read more in the Accounts Commission’s latest report: bit.ly/Fife_Council_2025 The Commission says Fife Council’s performance in delivering services is mixed. Some services perform well, but inequalities are deepening, including a growing gap in the life expectancy between Fife’s poorer and wealthier areas. Key services such as social care are deteriorating, and the council’s large health and social care overspends are not sustainable. With tightening finances, the council must save over £46 million by 2027/28. The council will have to significantly change how it delivers services to make the savings needed. Added to this, the council’s money set aside for contingencies dipped below its rolling three-year target. This will need to be monitored. The council has some strong foundations for the future. This includes strong engagement with local communities. It is also implementing some innovative solutions to address its workforce challenges and is developing three-year plans across all services to deliver change. Now the council should review its Medium-Term Financial Strategy to take into account the impact of these plans and provide transparency in how reserves will be used in the future. Andrew Burns, Deputy Chair of the Accounts Commission: “Fife Council has reached a turning point. Significant change needs to happen now to ensure the sustainability of services and so the council can continue to balance its books. Tough decisions lie ahead. “The council has excellent engagement with local communities and strong working relationships across councillors of all parties. It must now build on these strengths, working with communities to develop clear plans on how significant savings and changes to the delivery of services can be made.” There's more on this on the report's page on the Audit Scotland website: bit.ly/Fife_Council_2025