Auditor General logo

Auditor General
for Scotland

Auditor General for Scotland

Audit Scotland publishes reports on behalf of the Auditor General who:

  • is appointed by the Crown
  • is independent
  • reports to the Scottish Parliament
  • is held accountable for Audit Scotland’s work.

Audit Scotland helps the Auditor General by investigating, on his behalf, various aspects of how public bodies work.

The Auditor General’s role is to:

  • examine how public bodies spend public money
  • make sure they manage their finances to the highest standards
  • make sure they achieve value for money.

Public bodies that the Auditor General scrutinises include:

  • directorates of the Scottish Government
  • government agencies, eg the Prison Service, Historic Scotland
  • National Health Service (NHS) bodies
  • further education colleges
  • Scottish Water
  • Non-departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and others, eg Scottish Enterprise.

The Auditor General does not scrutinise:

  • local councils
  • police boards
  • fire and rescue boards.

More information

Download a PDF of the Quick Guide - 526KBOpens in new window

Download our quick guide to Audit Scotland, the Accounts Commission and the Auditor General for Scotland.

PDF Quick Guide (PDF | 526KB)Opens in new window