Patrick Bartlett has more than 35 years’ experience in finance and audit. He served as Group Financial Controller for a major listed company and held a number of Board roles including Chief Finance Officer for a regulated insurance company. Patrick has extensive Audit Committee, risk and governance experience, and currently holds a number of non-executive and Trustee roles, including at Queen Margaret University and formerly the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Patrick Bartlett has been appointed to Audit Scotland’s Board by the Scottish Parliament as a new independent non-executive director.

Patrick has extensive experience in financial leadership and audit. He was formerly Group Financial Controller for a major listed company and has held a number of Board and non-executive roles. 

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Patrick said:

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report today on HMRC’s administration of Scottish income tax, including the final calculation of Scottish revenues for the 2022/23 tax year.

The Auditor General for Scotland, Stephen Boyle, provides additional assurance to the Scottish Parliament on the work of the NAO in this area.

In his accompanying report, he says the NAO’s approach was reasonable and covered the key audit risks. He also draws attention to the main findings in the NAO report, and highlights:

All Scottish councils must learn from the weaknesses that allowed an Aberdeen City Council employee’s £1.1 million fraud go undetected over 17 years.

Between 2006 and 2023, the employee transferred 655 council tax refund payments totalling £1.109m into his own bank account.  Another staff member acted swiftly and alerted senior colleagues when they became suspicious in September 2023. The council expects to be able to recover the lost funds, with no loss to the taxpayers whose accounts were affected. 

The future of the publicly owned Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow (FMPG) shipyard is uncertain, with no more work secured beyond the completion of MV Glen Rosa (802).

FMPG has now handed over the delayed MV Glen Sannox, with MV Glen Rosa currently due to be delivered in September 2025. However, there are multiple risks to the continued costs of completing MV Glen Rosa. Ongoing investment is needed to make the yard competitive and generate future income.