Significant risks must be addressed if a major reform of health and social care is to fundamentally change how services are delivered, and improve outcomes for the people who use them.

Integrating health and social care services is a key Scottish Government policy, focussed on meeting the challenges of Scotland's ageing population by shifting resources to community-based and preventative care at home, or in a homely setting.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has today published a report on HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) administration of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT), which will be introduced from 6 April 2016 as part of new financial powers being delivered under the Scotland Act 2012. The NAO report is available to view on the organisation’s website https://www.nao.org.uk/. All enquiries concerning the report should be directed to the NAO press office.

An Audit Scotland review of issues around the Lennoxtown Initiative, a community-based regeneration company, has found no evidence of corruption or fraud.  But there was poor management and monitoring of the service agreement and wider lessons need to be learned.

The full review is available here:

Conclusions on issues relating to the Lennoxtown Initiative (PDF | 337KB)

Audit Scotland is inviting businesses to participate in a new audit looking at the role of economic development agencies, and their impact on economic growth.

Auditors are currently assessing the role of Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which support economic growth through a range of financial and non-financial support to businesses, at an estimated cost of £380 million each year.

As part of the audit work, the team now want to hear from businesses who have received, or tried to access, support from SE and HIE.