We help the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission with monitoring public money...
The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government...
The Auditor General for Scotland is responsible for the audit of most public bodies...
The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government. We hold councils in Scotland to account and help them improve.
We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government and we meet and report in public.
The Commission is responsible for coordinating and facilitating scrutiny in local government.
The Controller of Audit is a statutory post established alongside the Commission in 1975. The Controller reports to the Commission and highlights areas of concern.
Read more about the Commission's role, duties and powers (PDF | 47KB).
Follow us on Twitter @AccCommScot.
The Commission has adopted the following principles to help it guide its work
and fulfil its responsibilities during the Covid-19 emergency:
Implementing equal pay remains a challenge for local government in Scotland more than a decade after the process was agreed, with around £750 million spent on settling claims so far and...
Would you like to play a central role in influencing and improving how councils and other public bodies address the challenges facing Scotland and help people’s lives? The Accounts...
Budget reductions mean starker choices ahead for councils which will not be met simply by continuing to cut staff and services, says a new report. The Accounts Commission's annual overview...
The Commission publishes financial audits on each council in Scotland and an annual overview report on local government, as well as individual reports about council services.
Find out more about our priorities for the coming year in our strategy and annual action plan.
Scotland's 32 councils have managed budgets well over the last year but face a difficult time ahead, says the Accounts Commission. In its annual financial overview published today, the...
Dumfries and Galloway Council has made good progress and needs to take this further to meet the challenges it is facing, says the Accounts Commission. A report published today by the local...
The Commission publishes financial audits on each council in Scotland and an annual overview report on local government, as well as individual reports about council services.
Our strategy and annual action plan outlines our priorities for the coming year. Read more about our strategy.
Find out more about what we do in our short video.
Our annual overview found that most of Scotland's councils are increasingly relying on money from reserves to keep up with demand for services and balance their budgets.
We reported that the council has ambitious plans for developing the area and improving services, and it now needs to work with partners to better involve and engage with residents and staff to achieve these.
Our report looked at how councils are using arm's-length external organisations in Scotland and the impact they are making.
As well as auditing all local authorities in Scotland, the Commission looks at any issues arising from those audits and how well bodies are meeting Best Value duties. Find out more about each of the areas below:
It was the last Accounts Commission meeting of 2019.
Commission members considered a briefing on preparing for withdrawal from the European Union. This briefing considers evidence and intelligence from a wide range of Annual Audit Reports. Whilst EU withdrawal preparedness is at a reasonable level, preparing for this has diverted attention away from other areas, whilst compounding and intensifying existing pressures. The briefing is due to be published on the Audit Scotland website in December.
Other items under discussion include:
The Commission also discussed a report on Best Value statutory guidance. This is an important milestone and the Commission agreed to endorse the Scottish Government’s guidance.
The next meeting of the Accounts Commission takes place on 9 January 2020.
Our meetings are open to the public. Find out how to attend.
The public in general are our principal stakeholder but we engage with a wide range of others.
Audit Scotland
