Committee
Meeting of the Commission 10 December 2015
10 Dec 2015 · S4 · Scottish Commission for Public Audit
Item of business
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Given that HMRC is currently subject to audit by the National Audit Office, does Audit Scotland envisage any scope to pursue a resource transfer from the National Audit Office to Audit Scotland? One might assume that the extent of the NAO’s input might decrease for the taxes that will be raised and administered in Scotland in future.
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Item 2 is Audit’s Scotland’s budget proposal for 2016-17. I welcome to the meeting from Audit Scotland, Ian Leitch, the board chair; Caroline Gardner, Audito...
Ian Leitch (Audit Scotland)
Thank you for the invitation to come along. This is the first time that I have appeared before the commission. I take the opportunity to thank my predecessor...
Caroline Gardner (Auditor General for Scotland)
The budget for 2016-17 has been prepared in the context of some significant uncertainties, including the outcome of the United Kingdom spending review and it...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you. As you correctly say, members have some questions and I would like to start with a question about fees because that has been a recurring theme for...
Ian Leitch
Some of us, when we joined the board, started asking a lot of questions. To some extent, that may have delayed matters, because we have been probing into the...
The Convener
SNP
From what you are saying, I would deduce that we are at the start of a process rather than moving towards the end of it.
Ian Leitch
I do not agree with that; I think that we are fairly well through it. We have had working papers looking at how the sectoral imbalances have occurred histori...
The Convener
SNP
You mention the possibility of sectoral balance and so on. We would welcome a move towards a closer balance of fees and the related expenditure in each secto...
Ian Leitch
The accountable officer will answer that question.
Caroline Gardner
It might be helpful if I remind the commission of the framework that governs our overall funding and fee-setting process and of the work that has been done s...
The Convener
SNP
Your papers refer to a historical decision made when Audit Scotland was set up that ensured that the costs of best-value audits were broadly met by central G...
Caroline Gardner
I will ask Russell Frith to give you more detail, if you will find it useful, but the historical picture is that when local authorities had a legal responsib...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab)
Lab
Like the convener, I am concerned that the fee strategy review has not been completed by now; indeed, regardless of what Mr Leitch has said, it seem that we ...
Ian Leitch
It will be completed for the audit appointments next autumn. I cannot speak for the time before I joined the board, but when I looked at this issue with coll...
Angus MacDonald (Falkirk East) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning, panel. We are aware that the Wales Audit Office has recently reviewed its fee strategy. In its equivalent document, it has published the hourly...
Ian Leitch
I do not see a reason in principle why that cannot be done after the procurement exercise, although, plainly, we would not want to disclose our hand until we...
Caroline Gardner
After the procurement exercise has been completed, we will need to finalise how we recover the direct costs of audit, which are the costs of the work that is...
Diane McGiffen (Audit Scotland)
I, too, would offer reassurance. As you know, our objective is to deliver public audit in Scotland that promotes transparency, accountability and best value....
Angus MacDonald
SNP
Thank you for that. I am pleased to hear that you are looking at good practice around the globe, and it is good to know that you accept the need for transpar...
Caroline Gardner
I will ask Russell Frith to come in with the details on that, if I may. In broad terms, as we reported to the commission back in June in relation to our tota...
Russell Frith (Audit Scotland)
As part of our budget preparation, we do an allocation of budget costs across the sectors so that we can start to monitor the extent to which the projected i...
Angus MacDonald
SNP
Okay. Are those percentages detailed anywhere in the report?
Russell Frith
They are not explicitly in the report, but they are in one of the working papers that underlie the budget.
Angus MacDonald
SNP
Okay. May I suggest that they are included in the report in future?
Russell Frith
Certainly.
The Convener
SNP
It would be useful if the figures that you have just now could be supplied.
Caroline Gardner
We can certainly do that. The nearest reference to them is in the submission to the commission, in table 2 on page 12, which breaks down the income from char...
The Convener
SNP
I think that the commission is keen to see how far the costs are covered for the proportion of work that is done for the Accounts Commission and the proporti...
Caroline Gardner
We understand that entirely, and there is no problem in letting the commission have the breakdown. We can certainly build that into our agreement with the se...
John Pentland
Lab
Obviously, the commission is keen to explore the potential impact on Audit Scotland of the proposals in the Smith commission agreement and to ensure that Aud...