Public Audit Committee
Replacement European Union Funds: Future audit and accountability arrangements
Background
Following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, the UK Government established a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The purpose of this Fund is to allocate funding through a single UK wide framework to local partners within the UK.
The UK Government has not yet clearly explained:
• how the audit and accountability arrangements for these funds will work
• who will carry out the audit work
• who will track how the funds are being spent
• the extent to which the Auditor General for Scotland will play a part in this process.
The Public Audit Committee has explored the audit and accountability arrangements with both UK and Scottish Governments. It has also raised these issues during oral evidence sessions with the Auditor General for Scotland and the Scottish Government. This continues the work of predecessor committees in Sessions 4 and 5 on the scope of the Scotland Act 2016: audit and accountability arrangements.
Information about the Public Audit Committee’s scrutiny of the replacement EU funds audit and accountability arrangements can be found below.
Meetings
2 September 2021
The Committee took evidence from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; and Mark Roberts, Audit Director, Audit Scotland.
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 2 September 2021
Read the Official Report, 2 September 2021
Read the meeting minutes, 2 September 2021
Decision: The Committee agreed to continue to scrutinise audit and accountability arrangements on EU replacement funds after taking evidence from the Auditor General for Scotland on “Audit Scotland’s strategic priorities and future work programme”.
27 January 2022
The Committee took evidence from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; Michael Oliphant, Audit Director; and Helen Russell, Senior Audit Manager, Audit Scotland.
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 27 January 2022
Read the Official Report, 27 January 2022
Read the meeting minutes, 27 January 2022
Decision: The Committee agreed to invite the Scottish Government to give oral evidence at a future meeting (as part of its work on scrutinising the 2020/21 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts).
24 February 2022
The Committee took evidence from:
John-Paul Marks, Permanent Secretary; Colin Cook, Director of Economic Development; Lesley Fraser, Director-General Corporate; Jackie McAllister, Chief Financial Officer; and Alyson Stafford, Director-General Scottish Exchequer, Scottish Government.
And then from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; and Michael Oliphant, Audit Director, Audit Scotland.
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 24 February 2022
Read the Official Report, 24 February 2022
Read the meeting minutes, 24 February 2022
Decision: The Committee agreed to decide its next steps at a future meeting.
10 March 2022
The Committee took evidence from:
Joe Griffin, Director-General Education and Justice; Helena Gray, Director of Fair Work, Employability and Skills; Adam Reid, Deputy Director for Skills; and Helen Webster, Deputy Director for Reform, Directorate for Advance Learning and Science, Scottish Government.
And then from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; Gordon Smail, Audit Director; Rebecca Seidel, Senior Manager; and Douglas Black, Audit Manager, Audit Scotland.
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 10 March 2022
Read the Official Report, 10 March 2022
Read the meeting minutes, 10 March 2022
Decision: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish and UK Governments on audit and accountability arrangements for the replacement funds for the European Union Structural Funds.