Public bodies must act on audit reports, MSPs conclude

A fundamental shift in the way public bodies and the Scottish Government view and respond to audit reports is essential, according to a legacy report published today by Holyrood's Public Audit & Post-Legislative Committee.

MSPs on the committee are critical of "the wasteful cycle of recurring themes appearing in audit reports", and find it "unacceptable that, in the face of a critical audit report, public bodies often react defensively". They add: "Instead of tackling concerns head on and focusing on improvement, public bodies often down play their failings."

Public bodies and the Scottish Government must now be required to respond formally and then act on recommendations of the Auditor General – with consequences if they fail to do so, the report concludes.

At the very least, there should be justification if action is not taken, which is recordable and tracked through a formal process.

Writing in the foreword, committee convener Jenny Marra MSP comments: "We kept seeing the same issues again and again across the public sector – leadership challenges, poor workforce planning, weak governance arrangements, failed ICT projects and an absence of key data making it impossible to determine whether policies and initiatives were actually making a difference to people's lives.

"The frontline public sector response to COVID-19 was nothing short of incredible, but the pandemic also served to shine a light on the pre-existing fractures in public services and exacerbate many of the issues that the committee had continued to highlight in its audit scrutiny."

If these issues are not addressed, the report states, they risk the financial sustainability and effectiveness of public services.

It says that solutions must be collaborative, avoid siloed working and be part of a long-term strategy and forward planning.

Committee convener Jenny Marra MSP commented: "Our committee hasn’t seen any evidence that Audit Scotland recommendations are being followed through. In some cases, a public body will be subjected to repeated section 22 reports from the Auditor General – a clear sign that they are just not getting to grips with the issues that need to be addressed. This is disappointing.

"A formal framework which includes acknowledgment that things have gone wrong and which lays out a recorded process through which lessons will be learned, shared and acted upon is now essential."

She concluded: "We know these issues can’t be resolved easily, but it is vital that the Scottish Government and leaders across the public sector take solid steps to tackle them. Public money must be spent wisely and public services must become sustainable over the long term."

Click here to view the report.