Auditors from Audit Scotland and partner organisation, Ernst & Young, have spent four weeks gathering information that will inform the Council’s Best Value Audit.
From 17 May to 11 June, a fieldwork team attended a range of committee and board meetings and held a series of virtual interviews with members of the Leadership Team, Elected Members, Community Partners, Trades Unions, and employees.
To help the team understand the progress made since the last Best Value Audit in 2016, Services have also put forward a range of evidence that:
- Highlights how we provide Best Value
- Showcases how we’ve responded to the pandemic
Getting it right
Working on behalf of the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission, Audit Scotland assesses all 32 Scottish Councils to ensure there is good governance and effective management of resources to deliver the best possible outcomes for the public.
The duty of Best Value applies to all public bodies in Scotland and is a statutory duty for councils.
Next steps
Initial feedback on the Best Value Audit will be given to Chief Executive, Kenneth Lawrie, later in the summer with a final report to be published later this year.
The report will highlight what we are doing well as well as areas for improvement. Recommendations will also be made to help us achieve Best Value in everything we do.
Case studies
In total 36 case studies have been submitted to the auditors, 26 of which were also included in a recent Scrutiny Committee Report and are listed below.
The case studies not only highlight best practice and how working in partnership with communities has underpinned much of our response to the pandemic, but also how our Council priorities (Communities, Enterprise, Innovation) have kept us focused on ‘doing the right thing’.
Speaking about the case studies at a recent Leadership Forum, Kenneth Lawrie, Chief Executive, said the case studies were “full of positive reading”.
He said:
“Lots of good things have been done by teams right across the Council, with partners and communities. At the Scrutiny Committee, Elected Members were positive and appreciative of the work done, and they asked that thanks be passed on to colleagues right across the Council.”
He added:
“The case studies relate to all aspects of our response to the pandemic. If you do not read anything else read them, because they say something really important about the sort of organisation we are and about the people that work for it.”
Communities
Enterprise
Innovation