Consultation on Code of Audit Practice

Audit Scotland is consulting on a revised Code of Audit Practice which outlines the responsibilities of our external auditors.

Audit Scotland's vision is to be a world class audit organisation that improves the use of public money. One of the strands of work from our Corporate Plan to help deliver our vision is Securing World Class Audit. The revised Code of Audit Practice and the new audit appointments are significant steps in this journey towards world class and ones that will frame our work over the next few years.

The public audit landscape in Scotland continues to change with powers over tax raising being devolved to the Scottish Parliament together with responsibility for areas of spending such as some social security benefits. Public bodies are expected to work together more extensively than ever before in order to improve service delivery and increase efficiency. These changes are also taking place in an environment of continuing financial pressure for public bodies and their auditors.

Our objective in revising the Code and making our audit appointments is to maximise the value of public audit. The revised Code makes it clear that auditors, in addition to their work on financial statements, must consider and reach conclusions on risks around four wider scope dimensions and report their findings and judgements.