Audit Scotland
Our work programme
This programme sets out work that Audit Scotland will carry out from 2020/21 to 2024/25 on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission, who refresh the programme each year and consult with stakeholders on its content.
The work programme covers a range of public sector bodies and services. The programme sets out work in detail for the next two years and indicates the proposed areas of work for the three years beyond. Our programme includes annual audit work and statutory reports. To find out more about the broad range of work that we do, visit our work pages.
Work programme 2020 to 2025
Click on each date below to see the planned programme for that year. Contact details for key staff involved in specific audit areas are included.
For general programme information, contact us at workprogramme@audit-scotland.gov.uk.
Overview reporting
These reports assess the overall performance of key parts of the public sector, such as the NHS, local government and colleges.
Read more about our 2020/21 overview reports
Scotland’s colleges 2020
Our report will comment on the sector’s performance from a financial and non-financial perspective. We will also highlight any future challenges the sector faces.
Read more about our report on Scotland's colleges
NHS in Scotland 2020
This is our annual report on how the NHS in Scotland is performing. The overall aim of the audit is to answer the question: How well is the NHS in Scotland performing and is it equipped to deal with the challenges ahead?
Local government in Scotland: Financial overview
This annual report provides a high-level independent analysis of the financial performance of councils. It draws upon councils’ audited accounts and other sources of financial information.
Local government in Scotland: Challenges and performance
We will use the wider annual overview report to highlight issues that the Commission, through its strategy, has identified as being of greatest importance. We will also report on:
- current and future challenges councils are facing, and the pressures on key services;
- how councils have responded to budgetary pressures and changing demand on services, for example through workforce reductions and service redesign; and
- councils’ performance and progress in meeting challenges
Performance audits
Performance audits reports focus on efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources. They can consider issues such as: implementation of public service reforms; value for money; use of resources, and; service performance and sustainability.
Read more about our 2020/21 performance audits
Highlands and Islands Enterprise: Cairngorm Funicular
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is the owner and custodian of Cairngorm Mountain, one of Scotland’s main snow-sports centres. In 2018 the funicular railway at Cairngorm was closed after a routine inspection revealed structural issues and it has remained out of use since then. Cairngorm Mountain Ltd (CML), the private operator responsible for the operation of the mountain and funicular under a lease agreement, entered administration soon after the funicular closed. HIE subsequently negotiated a deal to take the assets and business of CML back into public ownership, and set up a subsidiary, Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd (CMSL), to take over the operation of the mountain on its behalf.
Audit Scotland is carrying out an audit to assess the chain of events that led to HIE bringing the operation of the mountain back into public hands and to find out how it is taking forward plans for the future of Cairngorm Mountain and the funicular. The audit will examine HIE’s decision to transfer the operating company, CML, back to the private sector in 2014 and their subsequent relationship with CML until its administration in 2018. It will also consider HIE’s response to CML entering administration and how it is developing short and long-term plans for the mountain.
Read more about our audit on Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Further information:
Senior Manager: Graeme Greenhill
Skills - planning and investment
Having the right skills available within the working age population, and equity of opportunity for learners are central to the Scottish Government’s priority of economic growth. This audit will look at how effectively the Scottish Government works with relevant stakeholders (including the Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland) to identify and develop the skills needed for the economy and wider society. The audit will assess the effectiveness of skills planning, and what progress has been made with changes proposed through the Enterprise and Skills Review.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Rebecca Seidel
Social security
This is the next in the series of performance audits of Scotland's new social security powers.
Read more about our social security audit
Further information:
Senior Manager: Carole Grant
Affordable housing
The Scottish Government's vision is to provide an affordable home for all by 2020, with four key targets for housing (covering homelessness, fuel poverty, energy efficiency and the quality of social housing). The government has also set targets for new homes for the current and previous parliamentary terms. Councils have a long-standing legal duty to assess and respond to housing need for their area. Council plans also need to consider people in the private sector in terms of housing need.
Our 2013 report identified that a focus on numbers alone creates a risk that homes could be built where it is easy and most cost-effective, not where they are most needed. Since 2013 there have been changes to funding, for example the Scottish Government launched the Housing Infrastructure Fund in 2016 to help councils with the costs of supporting infrastructure such as roads and drainage
The audit will consider what progress has been made against the national new build target, and how has this supported the policy objectives of reducing homelessness and increasing access to affordable housing for those most in need. It will consider local planning arrangements, variability between council areas, barriers to building enough homes in Scotland, and how the Scottish Government and councils are working together to address these barriers.
Read more about our affordable housing audit
Further information:
Senior Manager: Carol Calder
Educational outcomes
This audit will follow up on the Accounts Commission’s 2014 report. Since then the Scottish Government has identified improving educational outcomes and closing the poverty-related attainment gap as its top priority. It has committed an additional £750 million to improve outcomes over the lifetime of this Parliament. Since 2014 there has also been significant change within the education sector, including development of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity Funding.
The audit will look at trends in educational outcomes and spending across Scotland and assess the impact of actions by the Scottish Government and councils to improve outcomes. It will also follow up on progress against the recommendations in the 2014 report.
Read more about our audit on educational outcomes
Further information:
Senior Manager: Tricia Meldrum
Waste management
This audit will review councils’ progress in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill in the context of tighter targets and the Scottish Government’s overall climate change objectives. It will compare performance and seek to identify good practice. The timing of audit work at this time corresponds with EU targets for 2020, and action to meet Scottish Government’s 2025 targets.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Graeme Greenhill
Digital progress in local government
Digital technology can fundamentally change how council services are delivered. It has the potential to improve experiences and outcomes for service users, improve how councils interact with citizens, and make councils more efficient. Digital transformation, as with any major change also presents risks to councils and can bring considerable challenges.
This is our first audit looking at digital progress in local government. It follows on from other work looking at digital progress across the public sector. The audit aims to look at what progress councils are making in becoming digital councils that improve services and deliver better outcomes for citizens. This will include looking at what it means to be a digital council, how well councils are putting in place the building blocks to become a digital council, and what barriers councils are facing.
Read more about our audit on digital progress in local government
Further information:
Senior Manager: Morag Campsie
Audits of Best Value
These reports audit how well councils are meeting their statutory duty of Best Value. This includes an assessment each year of aspects of Best Value as part of an integrated annual audit. In addition, a public Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) for each council will be published at least once in a five year period that will bring together an overall picture of the council drawn from a range of audit activity and the work of other scrutiny bodies. This five-year rolling programme is agreed each year by the Accounts Commission.
Read more about our 2020/21 Best Value reports
Seven Best Value reports:
- Aberdeenshire Council
- Argyll and Bute Council
- City of Edinburgh Council
- Dundee City Council
- Falkirk Council
- Moray Council
- North Ayrshire Council
Best Value assessments featured in the annual audit reports for the other 25 councils.
How councils work
This is a series of publications designed to support improvement in local government.
Read more about our 2020/21 How councils work reports
The Accounts Commission is considering options for future How councils work publications.
Impact reports
These reports summarise the impact of a performance audit. They are published around 18 months after the audit report, and cover the response to the report, and how conclusions and recommendations were acted upon by audited bodies and others, such as the Parliament.
Read more about our 2020/21 impact reports
Impact reports which are published during the year will be listed here.
Overview reporting
These reports assess the overall performance of key parts of the public sector, such as the NHS, local government and colleges.
Read more about our 2021/22 overview reports
NHS in Scotland 2021
This is our annual report on how the NHS in Scotland is performing. The overall aim of the audit is to answer the question: How well is the NHS in Scotland performing and is it equipped to deal with the challenges ahead?
Local government in Scotland: Financial overview
This annual report provides a high-level independent analysis of the financial performance of councils. It draws upon councils’ audited accounts and other sources of financial information.
Local government in Scotland: Challenges and performance
We will use the wider annual overview report to highlight issues that the Commission, through its strategy, has identified as being of greatest importance. We will also report on:
- current and future challenges councils are facing, and the pressures on key services;
- how councils have responded to budgetary pressures and changing demand on services, for example through workforce reductions and service redesign; and
- councils’ performance and progress in meeting challenges
Performance audits
Performance audits reports focus on efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources. They can consider issues such as: implementation of public service reforms; value for money; use of resources, and; service performance and sustainability.
Read more about our 2021/22 performance audits
Fair access to higher education
The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2014-15 set out the ambition that a child born at that time in one of Scotland’s most deprived communities should, by the time of leaving school, have the same chance of going to university as one born in one of the country’s least deprived areas. The Commission on Widening Access was established to advise Ministers on how to meet this ambition. Its final report, A Blueprint for Fairness, was published in March 2016. The Scottish Government subsequently set a national target that specified that, by 2030, students from the 20 per cent most deprived backgrounds should represent 20 per cent of entrants to higher education. This was supported by a further series of targets and actions. The Commissioner for Fair Access ('fair access' being the current term used to refer to the Scottish Government's ambition) was appointed in December 2016 and is responsible for leading a system wide effort to deliver fair access in Scotland.
The audit would look at progress in delivering the Scottish Government’s ambitions and targets for fair access. It is widely recognised by stakeholders that access is only part of the ambition. Many of those to whom the Scottish Government's ambitions apply are likely to require specific support to allow them to participate fully and effectively in higher education, both prior to entry and during their studies. In addition to looking at progress against published targets, the audit would also examine how support is being provided and how effective and sustainable it is.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Rebecca Seidel
Social security
This is the next in the series of performance audits of Scotland's new social security powers.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Carole Grant
Digital in health
This audit will look at what progress has been made in delivering the Scottish Government and Cosla’s Digital Health and Care Strategy published in April 2018. This will be the third in our series of audits looking at Digital across the public sector. It immediately follows on from our audit looking at Digital in Local Government which will publish in October 2020. We will be able to use the themes and issues identified in these previous audits to inform our work.
The strategy will have been in place for around 3 years at the point of undertaking the audit. Our current understanding is that progress to implement the strategy and establish governance arrangements etc. has been slower than expected. We will explore what progress has been made, what current plans are, and identify areas of good practice. We will continue to look at developments in other countries and use case studies to highlight examples of how digital is improving outcomes for citizens in the area of health and care.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Morag Campsie
Early learning and childcare series
This short audit is part of a series of audits looking at the Scottish Government’s expansion of funded early years provision. The audit will look at whether the expansion was delivered as planned and how much it cost. We will undertake a further audit in 2024/2025, the timing of which will allow us to review the Scottish Government’s final evaluation report on the expansion (due 2024).
Further information:
Senior Manager: Tricia Meldrum
Implementation of justice strategy
A series of statutory reports in the last few years have highlighted issues in several organisations within the justice portfolio (the Scottish Police Authority, Community Justice Scotland and, most recently, the Scottish Prison Service). The reports suggest that there could be value in looking beyond the performance of individual organisations to take a 'whole systems approach' to examine the Scottish Government's approach to justice, as set out in its Vision and Priorities for Justice. The report on the Scottish Prison Service, in particular, indicates that actions taken to date have not shifted the balance from custodial sentences to more community sentences or early diversion from the courts.
The work programme currently contains a proposal to undertake an audit of community justice in 2021/22 but we believe a broader piece of audit work may be more appropriate. Given the scale of the justice system, and the number of bodies involved, we propose to prepare an initial briefing paper in 2020 which will provide a high-level overview of the key issues that inform and influence the justice system; and assess what further specific work we might undertake in this area.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Mark MacPherson
Outcomes for children with additional support needs
This audit will build on the work undertaken as part of the educational outcomes audit. In 2019, 31 per cent of all school pupils were recorded as having at least one additional support need. The number of pupils identified has been increasing each year, partly due to better identification of pupils’ needs. There is also some evidence that number of pupils with more complex additional support needs is increasing. There are concerns about the number of specialist support staff in schools is not keeping pace with the increasing numbers of pupils identified, but changes in the way staffing data is recorded mean that trends are not clear.
Available data on outcomes from school education shows a significant gap in attainment and positive destinations between children with additional support needs and all children. However, data on wider outcomes is not available to better understand the impact of education and other services on outcomes for young people with additional support needs. The audit will look across services and across the learner journey from early learning and childcare through to college / higher education / skills / employment.
Further information:
Senior Manager: Tricia Meldrum
Social care sustainability
There are major risks around social care financing, governance and accountability. While we have reported on these in a number of previous reports we believe there to be a strong case for carrying out performance audit work looking at the risks in this area. With increasing pressure on council and health budgets, and complicated arrangements in health and social care, the audit work would likely explore:
- how social care services are provided across Scotland at a high-level
- how much is being spent, how this has changed and future spending plans
- what the main pressures and risks are, particularly in relation to financing and cost pressures
- the level of medium to long-term planning for the provision of social care
- outcomes for local populations
Further information:
Senior Manager: Jillian Matthew
Audits of Best Value
These reports audit how well councils are meeting their statutory duty of Best Value. This includes an assessment each year of aspects of Best Value as part of an integrated annual audit. In addition, a public Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) for each council will be published at least once in a five year period that will bring together an overall picture of the council drawn from a range of audit activity and the work of other scrutiny bodies. This five-year rolling programme is agreed each year by the Accounts Commission.
Read more about our 2021/22 Best Value reports
Six Best Value reports:
- Aberdeen City Council
- Angus Council
- Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
- East Dunbartonshire Council
- Shetland Islands Council
- South Ayrshire Council
Best Value assessments featured in the annual audit reports for the other 26 councils.
How councils work
This is a series of publications designed to support improvement in local government.
Read more about our 2021/22 How councils work reports
The Accounts Commission will consider options for future How councils work publications.
Impact reports
These reports summarise the impact of a performance audit. They are published around 18 months after the audit report, and cover the response to the report, and how conclusions and recommendations were acted upon by audited bodies and others, such as the Parliament.
Read more about our 2021/22 impact reports
Impact reports which are published during the year will be listed here.
The following are areas of longer-term audit interest which are being considered for inclusion in the future work programme.
Overview reporting
These reports assess the overall performance of key parts of the public sector, such as the NHS, local government and colleges.
Read more about our overview reports for 2022-2025
NHS in Scotland
This is our annual report on how the NHS in Scotland is performing. The overall aim of the audit is to answer the question: How well is the NHS in Scotland performing and is it equipped to deal with the challenges ahead?
Scotland’s colleges
We will report every two years on the sector’s performance from a financial and non-financial perspective. We will also highlight any future challenges the sector faces.
Local government in Scotland: Financial overview
This annual report provides a high-level independent analysis of the financial performance of councils. It draws upon councils’ audited accounts and other sources of financial information.
Local government in Scotland: Challenges and performance
We will use the wider annual overview report to highlight issues that the Commission, through its strategy, has identified as being of greatest importance. We will also report on:
- current and future challenges councils are facing, and the pressures on key services;
- how councils have responded to budgetary pressures and changing demand on services, for example through workforce reductions and service redesign; and
- councils’ performance and progress in meeting challenges
Performance audits
Performance audits reports focus on efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources. They can consider issues such as: implementation of public service reforms; value for money; use of resources, and; service performance and sustainability.
Read more about our performance audits for 2022-2025
Health, care and communities
Disability
Drug and alcohol services
Public health arrangements
Health and social care 3
Housing for an older population
Mental health: older people or learning disability
Progress in addressing child poverty
Community Empowerment
Justice, education and lifelong learning
Digital services: justice
Digital: progress against the Digital Strategy
Early learning and childcare series
Improving outcomes for looked after children and young people
School education: follow-up audit
Public finances, investment and economic impact
Climate change plan
Public energy company
Social security
Support to rail services
Supporting economic growth: Enterprise and Skills Review
Scottish Investment Bank
Planning for economic development post-EU withdrawal
Public finances and economy
Strategic capital investment
Scotland's City Region and Growth Deals part 2
Audits of Best Value
These reports audit how well councils are meeting their statutory duty of Best Value. This includes an assessment each year of aspects of Best Value as part of an integrated annual audit. In addition, a public Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) for each council will be published at least once in a five year period that will bring together an overall picture of the council drawn from a range of audit activity and the work of other scrutiny bodies. This five-year rolling programme is agreed each year by the Accounts Commission.
Read more about our Best Value reports for 2022-2025
End of five-year audit appointment cycle. Accounts Commission to agree future approach to auditing Best Value in councils.
How councils work
This is a series of publications designed to support improvement in local government.
Read more about our How councils work reports for 2022-2025
The Accounts Commission will consider options for future How councils work publications.
Impact reports
We will carry out impact reports on these audits. These reports summarise the impact of a performance audit. They are published around 18 months after the audit report, and cover the response to the report, and how conclusions and recommendations were acted upon by audited bodies and others, such as the Parliament.
Read more about our impact reports for 2022-2025
Impact reports which are published during the year will be listed here.