Best Value toolkits

We audit against the requirements for Best Value set out by the Scottish Government for the public body – for example, in councils, the Local Government in Scotland Act and supporting Ministerial Statutory Guidance on Best Value. 

To support the audit process across all sectors, in 2014 we published Best Value toolkits. Organisations are free to use these, although we would stress that their purpose is to support external audit work.  These toolkits have been in place for a number of years now and they do not reflect recent changes in policy and legislation. However, they still provide a useful set of questions against which an organisation can assess its Best Value arrangements. 

How to use the toolkits

You can use the toolkits to assist evaluations about the level a public body has attained in each question or area. These have not been weighted and they should not be used to determine an overall ‘scoring’ for any toolkit.

They are designed to contribute to sound professional judgements, not to replace them. They are not intended to drive the audit or review process, but rather act as a tool to support it.

Download the toolkits

These were last updated in May 2014.

An update of the toolkits is being considered in the context of refreshing the approach to auditing Best Value across the public sector.

• Asset management (331KB)

• Challenge and improvement (301KB)

• Community engagement (305KB)

• Customer-focus and responsiveness (279KB)

• Efficiency (352KB)

• Equalities (452KB)

• Financial management (394KB)

• Governance and accountability (448KB)

• Information management (272KB)

• Partnership working and community leadership (678KB)

• People management (258KB)

• Performance management (312KB)

• Planning and resource alignment (311KB)

• Procurement (366KB)

• Public performance reporting (303KB)

• Risk management(300KB)

• Sustainability(310KB)

• Vision and strategic direction (352KB)