Best Value

What is Best Value?

Best Value is about ensuring that there is good governance and effective management of resources, with a focus on improvement, to deliver the best possible outcomes for the public.

The duty of Best Value applies to all public bodies in Scotland. It is a statutory duty for local authorities, such as councils. It is a formal duty for the Scottish Police Authority and Chief Constable, the Scottish Fire & Rescue Authority and Chief Fire Officer and in the rest of the public sector it is a formal duty on Accountable Officers, such as the chief executives of NHS bodies or of further education colleges.

Auditing and reporting about Best Value

On behalf of the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission, Audit Scotland is working to ensure that our approach to auditing Best Value continues to improve and reflect the context, different accountability regimes and reporting arrangements across the public sector.

In October 2016, we began a new approach to auditing Best Value in Scottish councils. The new approach continues to audit against the statutory duty but has an increased focus on the pace and depth of improvement at each council.

Read more about auditing Best Value:

• Auditing Best Value in Councils (PDF | 188 KB)

The audit approach to assess Best Value in other parts of the public sector is under review. Further information will be added here in due course on the following:

• Auditing Best Value in other local authorities
• Auditing Best Value in Police and Fire & Rescue
• Auditing Best Value in the NHS (PDF | 159 KB)
• Auditing Best Value in central government bodies (PDF | 169 KB)

Search our reports about Best Value on our website.