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5. EXTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY
5.1 The annual report and accounts
5.1.1 After the end of each financial year the SCRA shall publish an annual report of its activities together with its audited annual accounts.
5.1.2 The report and accounts shall comply, so far as appropriate, with the Treasury document The Government Financial Reporting Manual. The accounts shall be prepared in accordance with the relevant statutes and the specific Accounts Direction issued by the Scottish Executive on behalf of the Scottish Ministers.
5.1.3 The report and accounts shall outline the SCRA's main activities and performance during the previous financial year and set out in summary form the SCRA's forward plans. Information on performance against key financial targets shall be included in the notes to the accounts, and shall therefore be within the scope of the audit.
5.1.4 The report and accounts shall be submitted in draft to the sponsor Department for comment and the final version shall be laid before the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Ministers before31 December. The accounts must not be laid before they have been formally sent by the Auditor General for Scotland ( AGS) to the Scottish Ministers and must not be published before they have been laid. The SCRA shall be responsible for the publication of the report and accounts.
5.2 External audit
5.2.1 The AGS audits, or appoints auditors to audit the SCRA's annual accounts and passes them to the Scottish Ministers who shall lay them before the Scottish Parliament, together with the SCRA's annual report. For the purpose of audit the AGS has a statutory right of access to documents and information held by relevant persons specified by an Order under section 24 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.
5.2.2 The SCRA shall instruct its auditors to send copies of all management letters and correspondence relating to those letters to the Sponsoring Division of the Department to whom the SCRA's replies should also be copied.
5.2.3 The Accounts Direction will specify the form and content of the accounts, the information to be contained in the statements, the manner in which the information is to be presented, and the principles according to which the statements are to be prepared. The current Direction is appended to this document.
5.2.4 Information on performance against key financial targets will be included in the notes to the accounts, and will therefore be within the scope of the audit.
5.3 VFM/3E examinations
5.3.1 The Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 provides that the AGS may carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the SCRA has used its resources in discharging its functions. For the purpose of these examinations the AGS has statutory access to documents and information held by relevant persons specified by an Order made under section 24 of that Act.
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