Audit firms confirmed for next five-year appointments

The private firms that will help deliver the audit of Scotland's public bodies over the next five years have been confirmed.

From October 2022, the following companies will deliver a selection of audits on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland, for health, central government and further education bodies, and the Accounts Commission for Scotland, for local government bodies:

• Azets
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young
• Grant Thornton
• KPMG
• Mazars

Auditors to Scotland's public bodies comprise a mixture of Audit Scotland's in-house auditors and external firms, in order to achieve flexibility and value for money and to maintain and improve quality. Audit appointments are changed every five years as part of a range of measures in Scotland to safeguard auditors' independence and rigour.

These appointments follow the creation of the new Code of Audit Practice for Scotland, and ensures all audit is fully compliant with professional and legal requirements.

Professor Alan Alexander, the Chair of Audit Scotland, said:

Public audit is essential to ensuring that the people of Scotland know how billions in public money is spent and how public services are performing. Scotland has a robust and enviable model of public audit that prioritises and protects independence and quality, and supports the sustainability of public audit.

William Moyes, Chair of the Accounts Commission, said:

These appointments come after a rigorous selection process. Robust, objective and effective audit is essential to the Accounts Commission's role in holding local government to account and helping improve the public services that so many of us rely on in our daily lives.