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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 8 July 2025
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Displaying 3298 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

“Scotland’s economy: supporting businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic”

Meeting date: 23 June 2022

Richard Leonard

I think that some of the big retail chains returned their NDR rebates.

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Annual Report and Accounts for the Year to 31 March 2022 and Auditor’s Report on the Accounts

Meeting date: 22 June 2022

Richard Leonard

Thank you.

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Annual Report and Accounts for the Year to 31 March 2022 and Auditor’s Report on the Accounts

Meeting date: 22 June 2022

Richard Leonard

Just so that I understand this properly, are you saying that the time lags are a result not just of your ability to carry out the work but of when the public bodies that you are auditing prepare their accounts?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Annual Report and Accounts for the Year to 31 March 2022 and Auditor’s Report on the Accounts

Meeting date: 22 June 2022

Richard Leonard

Stuart Dennis used the phrase “catching up”, but the 2021-22 annual report shows that 75 per cent of audits were delivered—which I presume means that 25 per cent were not completed. I think that, this time last year, the figure was 82 per cent, and I am reliably informed that, pre-pandemic, the figure was around 100 per cent or at least in the high 90s. What is the reason for that? Why, on the face of those figures, does there appear to have been not a catching up but a falling back?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Annual Report and Accounts for the Year to 31 March 2022 and Auditor’s Report on the Accounts

Meeting date: 22 June 2022

Richard Leonard

Thank you.

Professor Alexander talked about development and things being dynamic, moving and so on. One of the massive adjustments that you have had to make is the move from having an office-based operation, with audits being carried out in other people’s premises, to carrying out a lot of your work in a virtual way. Indeed, the staffing of your office has been virtual. I was pleased to visit the office last week, and I understand that it was the first time that so many people had been in at any one time. How do you see future working arrangements? Do you see a return to the pre-pandemic model of operation? Where do you see the balance between people being present in the office and their working in different locations?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Annual Report and Accounts for the Year to 31 March 2022 and Auditor’s Report on the Accounts

Meeting date: 22 June 2022

Richard Leonard

Do you expect to be back to 100 per cent in 12 months’ time?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Annual Report and Accounts for the Year to 31 March 2022 and Auditor’s Report on the Accounts

Meeting date: 22 June 2022

Richard Leonard

I take no responsibility for whether people decide that they want to come back to work or, on seeing me in their office, decide that they do not.

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides: Arrangements to deliver vessels 801 and 802”

Meeting date: 16 June 2022

Richard Leonard

For those who are interested in the landscape of the yard and how it works, I point people to the evidence that Alex Logan, the GMB convener at the yard, gave on 22 January 2020 to the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee.

Sharon Dowey has some questions.

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides: Arrangements to deliver vessels 801 and 802”

Meeting date: 16 June 2022

Richard Leonard

I am sorry, but your meeting with Mr Mackay was on 5 June 2018.

Public Audit Committee

Section 23 Report: “New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides: Arrangements to deliver vessels 801 and 802”

Meeting date: 16 June 2022

Richard Leonard

So he said that, three years ago, he got a threat that people would resign.