Scottish Parliament Audit Committee

1. This section gives guidance on giving evidence to and responding to reports by the Audit Committee of the Scottish Parliament resulting from reports laid before the Parliament - mainly those laid by the Auditor General for Scotland (AGS) related to reports on accounts or economy, efficiency and effectiveness (3E) examinations.

Key Points

2. Areas of disagreement with AGS reports should be put on the record in advance of any hearing taking place.

3. Officials should not attempt to justify policy objectives or Ministerial decisions.

4. The Scottish Executive should respond to reports by the Audit Committee within 2 months of the report being published.

5. Responses should, in respect of each conclusion and recommendation, state explicitly whether or not the Executive agreed or accepted the conclusion or recommendation.

6. The Audit Committee may seek progress reports on the implementation of specific recommendations included in one or more of its reports.

Background

7. The Audit Committee is one of the mandatory committees established by the Scottish Parliament under chapter 6 of the Standing Orders. Its remit is to consider and report on the following:

any accounts laid before the Parliament;
any report laid before the Parliament by the AGS;
and any other document laid before the Parliament concerning financial control, accounting and auditing in relation to public expenditure.

Giving Evidence

8. Under section 23 of the Scotland Act 1998 the Parliament may require persons to attend its proceedings for the purpose of giving evidence or to produce documents under their custody or control. Departments should suggest which of their officials (e.g. Departmental Accountable Officers, Heads of Group, Heads of Division etc) would be best placed to give evidence but the decision rests with the Parliament. It has been assumed for the purposes of this guidance that the Audit Committee would normally require relevant Departmental Accountable Officers to appear as witnesses at any oral evidence sessions in connection with reports initiated by the Auditor General for Scotland. (In certain cases Departmental Accountable Officers or their officials may be required to appear together with Accountable Officers for relevant Executive Agencies or sponsored bodies.) In cases where the Departmental Accountable Officer is not required to attend oral evidence sessions the guidance which follows on briefing the Accountable Officer should be adapted as necessary to fit the needs of those officials who are required to attend.

9. Departmental witnesses at oral evidence sessions may be supported by other officials but their numbers should be kept to a minimum. Information not within the immediate knowledge of those present may be submitted later in writing. The Audit Committee may ask for supplementary written information both before and after the oral evidence sessions. Written evidence supplied to and briefing for appearances before the Audit Committee should be cleared in advance with relevant Finance Teams and responsible Ministers.

10. Officials should not attempt to justify policy objectives or ministerial decisions. This reflects the principle that the merits of Government programmes and projects are primarily a matter for political debate and ultimately for Ministers rather than civil servants to explain. The Audit Committee should address any such questions directly to the responsible Minister.

Briefing the Accountable Officer

11. Given the wide breadth of coverage of the normal 3E examination no rigid structure for the form of the brief can be set. Indeed individual Accountable Officers will have their own preferences on the form. It will have to contain adequate background material for the Accountable Officer to familiarise himself / herself with the subject and should contain specific suggested lines to take in response to any likely criticisms, as well as the specific conclusions or specific recommendations in the report. Audit Committee members may ask questions on other aspects of the report, however, and the brief should attempt, as far as possible, to anticipate such questions and provide suggested answers.

12. The Audit Committee may question Accountable Officers on issues which have not been covered in the AGS report. A report's silence on issues or accusations in the public domain will be no guarantee against their being raised. Divisions preparing briefing should therefore, depending on the circumstances of the case, alert Accountable Officers to the possibility and offer appropriate briefing.

13. The amount of background and supplementary material will vary depending on the Accountable Officer's personal knowledge of the subjects under discussion. Divisions may therefore find it helpful to seek an early meeting with the Accountable Officer to discuss the AGS report and the form and scope of the briefing. The relevant Finance Team should be invited to any such meeting. Normally in-depth briefing on the AGS report, paragraph by paragraph, is essential as background but, in most cases, this will need to be supplemented by material in bull point form with summaries of key facts.

14. Accountable Officers themselves may find it helpful to annotate the AGS report with particular facts and memory-joggers. There may also be a requirement for a speaking note covering the Accountable Officer's opening statement setting out any areas of disagreement with the report and giving the Accountable Officer's overall position on the issues raised in the report. The timetable should allow for comments by the relevant Finance Team and reasonably early clearance by the Accountable Officer of the general form of the briefing and the line to be taken, and for the final brief to be submitted to the Accountable Officer in good time before the hearing and in accordance with his or her wishes.

15. Following on from that, the Accountable Officer may wish to meet officials to discuss aspects of the brief. A final briefing meeting with officials should normally be held either on the morning of the hearing or a day or so before.

Security Considerations

16. The Audit Committee's policy is to conduct its hearings, as far as possible, in public and to publish as much evidence as possible. However, the Committee is prepared to consider requests by the Accountable Officer to take evidence in closed sessions and that confidential evidence given in such sessions or in writing should not be published. Security or other classifications intended to restrict publication must be used only when absolutely necessary and then only on a selective basis. The Committee will not agree to withhold publication simply because it may be embarrassing to the Department or Ministers.

Areas of Disagreement with the AGS Reports

17. Any significant concerns that Departments have over presentation, opinions and conclusions in the AGS report should be brought to the attention of the Audit Committee in writing as soon as possible after publication of the report and prior to any hearing taking place. Any such written statements should be cleared in advance with Finance Teams and the responsible Minister.

Publication of Evidence

18. Audit Committee proceedings are recorded verbatim and, except where there are security considerations, published in the Official Report. Witnesses are not sent a draft transcript to check. However, anyone who has given evidence will, on request to the Editor of the Official Report, be given access to a draft of his or her own evidence - it is not possible to see anyone else's evidence - in advance of publication and corrections can be made subject to the approval of the sub-editors. Witnesses should ensure that they take the opportunity to check their evidence and submit corrections.

Publication of Audit Committee Reports

19. The Audit Committee reports will be drafted by the Committee Clerks. Departments will be given sight of a strictly embargoed copy of reports 24 hours in advance of publication together with advance copies of any related press releases.

20. Prior to publication Departments should, in consultation with Finance Teams, do the following:

minute Ministers, including the First Minister, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, informing them of the impending publication, summarising the findings, and highlighting any specific criticisms of the Scottish Executive and any other points of concern; and
prepare a "line to take" (see below) for use in response to press inquiries.

Publicity

21. Scottish Executive responses to the publication of Audit Committee reports should where possible avoid comment that could pre-empt the formal response to the reports. Press briefing by Departments may respond to criticisms contained in or engendered by the reports but should make it clear that careful consideration would be given to the recommendations and that the Executive would respond formally to the Committee in due course. Departments may also provide relevant factual information and correct any mis-statements of fact or interpretation in media coverage. Ministers may wish to comment in certain circumstances.

Formal Responses to Audit Committee Reports

22. The Scottish Executive should provide a formal response to Audit Committee reports via the relevant Accountable Officer within 2 months of publication. Responses should be drafted by the business area with prime responsibility for the subject matter in liaison with the relevant Finance Team. The Finance Team should ensure that the necessary work is being undertaken and monitor progress. The response should include the following:

in respect of each conclusion and recommendation, an explicit statement as to whether or not the Executive agreed or accepted - in part or in full - the conclusion or recommendation. (The statement should be provided at the beginning of the responses to individual conclusions and recommendations and should avoid the use of ambiguous terms such as "noted");

a detailed explanation of the Executive's position where a conclusion or recommendation was not being agreed or accepted, either in part or in full ; and
a summary of actions that the Executive has already taken or intends to take with regard to the implementation of accepted recommendations. (Departments should guard against making commitments that may not be achievable in the foreseeable future.)

23. In the unlikely event of a Parliamentary debate on an Audit Committee report being held within 2 months of its publication and before a formal response can be finalised it will be necessary for the Accountable Officer to provide a preliminary response.

Clearance of Responses

24. All formal responses to Audit Committee reports should be cleared by relevant Finance Teams, the responsible Minister and the Minister for Finance and Public Service reform. There is no bar to the Minister with policy responsibility seeing an advance draft of the report for comments but the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform must be included in the final clearance.

Areas of Disagreement with Audit Committee Reports

25. The Audit Committee may pursue any areas of disagreement raised in a formal response from the Executive in correspondence with officials and/or Ministers and by requiring officials and/or Ministers to appear before the Committee in person. The Committee would write in the first instance to the Accountable Officer who should then consider the response with relevant Ministers. Ministers should respond on policy related issues leaving the Accountable Officer to respond on operational related issues. In the event of the Committee being dissatisfied with any part of the response(s) it has a number of options open to it i.e. pursue the matter further in correspondence; require officials and/or Ministers to appear before the Committee; refer to relevant subject Committees; and/or invoke a parliamentary debate.

Progress Reports

26. Undertakings to provide progress reports to the Audit Committee on specific issues may be included in the Executive's formal responses to specific reports. In addition the Audit Committee may seek progress reports on the implementation of specific recommendations included in one or more of its reports. (In this respect the Audit Committee has indicated that it will seek information on progress across a range of reports once or twice during each session of the Parliament.) Any such progress reports should be cleared by the relevant Finance Team(s), Accountable Officer(s) and responsible Minister(s).

Laying of Responses and Progress Reports

27. Responses, including follow-up responses, to Audit Committee reports and progress reports should be laid before the Parliament. The full formal responses should be laid within the 2 months period whether or not the Parliament is in recess. In addition Departments should consider whether any other written evidence would benefit from being laid. Whether or not a document is to be laid the Audit Committee Clerk should be provided with sufficient copies for his/her own information and for each committee member. Guidance on Laying of Reports before the Parliament can be found in the Guidance section of the Intranet .

28. The placing of copies in SPICe's Document Supply Centre and notification in the Parliament's Business Bulletin is all that is done as standard in order to bring laid documents to the attention of MSPs and the wider public. Departments should consider on a case by case basis whether additional publicity for responses and progress reports is desirable and make arrangements as necessary.

Dealing with the Committee

29. The first point of contact with the Audit Committee Clerk is the Departmental Committee Liaison Officer for the Audit Committee i.e. the Team Leader in Scottish Executive Finance: Accountability Policy and Guidance. However, it is for Departments in liaison with their Finance Teams to arrange for responses to Audit Committee reports to be laid before the Parliament and for copies to be sent to the Committee Clerk. Guidance on dealing with Committees generally entitled Scottish Executive Evidence and Responses to Committees of the Scottish Parliament is available on the Intranet.

Responses by Executive Agencies and Sponsored Bodies

30. It is open to Departments to agree with an Executive Agency or sponsored body that the Executive Agency or sponsored body should respond to an Audit Committee report covering the parent/ sponsor Department's interests. However, any such response would be subject to the same guidance on timetable, coverage and clearance - except that it would also require clearance by the Departmental Accountable Officer. Departments should arrange for the laying of responses by a sponsored body except where the sponsored body has a statutory right to do so.

Parliamentary Debates

31. Parliamentary debates may be held on specific Audit Committee reports. Any associated briefing for the responsible Minister should be cleared by the relevant Finance Team and Accountable Officer and copied to the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform.

Page Published/ Updated: February 2007

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Scottish Parliament Audit Committee