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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 15 March 2025
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Displaying 1088 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2021/22 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”

Meeting date: 19 January 2023

Sharon Dowey

That brings me to my last question. Is there sufficient transparency in the Scottish Government’s investment in private companies, including the rationale for investment and the reasons behind failed or rejected bids for subsequent sales of investments? How could transparency in that area be improved?

Public Audit Committee [Draft]

Section 22 Report: “The 2021/22 audit of National Records of Scotland”

Meeting date: 15 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

Thank you. Paragraph 15 on page 6 of the report states:

“As the census programme progresses through its later stages, it is important that NRS has knowledge transfer plans in place to build on the skills that it has in-house.”

Do you know what action NRS is taking to ensure that that happens?

Public Audit Committee [Draft]

Section 22 Report: “The 2021/22 audit of National Records of Scotland”

Meeting date: 15 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

Good morning. Paragraph 12 of your report explains that programme costs are estimated to increase by £6 million in 2022-23. The report goes on to state that

“the actual figure will not be known until the end of 2022/23 and will need to be carefully managed.”

What are the risks if the costs are not carefully managed? Do you have any concerns about that?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2023-24

Meeting date: 14 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

Audit Scotland is required to directly charge certain audited bodies but relies on the Parliament to fund audit work for those bodies that it cannot bill directly. In paragraph 70, Audit Scotland states that it requires to increase fees by 19.4 per cent to break even. Could you explain the difference between the increase in fees to be billed for chargeable audits versus the resource sought from the Parliament that is used to meet the costs of non-chargeable audits, which is only a 4.8 per cent increase? That is quite a significant difference.

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2023-24

Meeting date: 14 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

Further analysis of the increase in fees is provided in appendix 3 on page 23. Audit fees to be charged to further education colleges are expected to increase by 57.5 per cent from 2022-23 to 2023-24. Can you explain why there will be such a significant increase in the fees to be paid by that sector in particular?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2023-24

Meeting date: 14 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

Is there any risk that non-chargeable audited bodies are being cross-subsidised by the bodies that are billed for their audit work?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Spring Budget Revision 2022-23

Meeting date: 14 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

In paragraph 16 on page 3, Audit Scotland states:

“The expectation of continuing low interest rates in the next few years will lead to large accounting adjustments in 2023/24 and beyond. In such circumstances further requests for budget revisions to meet additional pension charge adjustments will be required in the future.”

Given recent interest rate increases, what impact do you anticipate on future pension charge adjustments?

Public Audit Committee

Major Information and Communications Technology Projects

Meeting date: 8 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

Do you know what the uptake has been from people who are eligible?

Public Audit Committee

Major Information and Communications Technology Projects

Meeting date: 8 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

You touched on data collection in responding to Colin Beattie’s questions. Obviously, there is a cost of living crisis, and we continually hear about people not claiming benefits that they are entitled to. Where are we with data collection for the new social security system to make sure that people who are entitled to benefits can get them automatically rather than having to click on links or SMS messages on the day that the new benefits go live?

Public Audit Committee

Major Information and Communications Technology Projects

Meeting date: 8 December 2022

Sharon Dowey

On the reverse side, you mentioned fraud, for example. Is there something in place in the new system to make sure that benefits stop when people are not eligible to receive them—if, for example, they go into full-time employment or their children reach a certain age?