The NHS in Scotland’s financial performance is good but it now faces fiscal pressures unprecedented since devolution.
An Audit Scotland report published today, Financial overview of the NHS in Scotland, says the health service is working hard to address existing and future financial pressures. In 2009/10, all NHS bodies met their financial targets and the service underspent by £43 million in 2009/10, or about 0.4 per cent of its £10.9 billion budget.
An Audit Scotland report published today, Management of the Scottish Government’s capital investment programme, looks at how well the government is running its programme of capital projects. It also follows up a 2008 Audit Scotland report on major capital projects.
The report says the government has improved its scrutiny of its programme in recent years. However, improvements have been slow in the information about the status and performance of individual projects, which would help with management of the programme.
The Accounts Commission says councils have carried out substantial work to address the serious challenges of delivering quality services with less money. However, councils and councillors face increasingly difficult choices in allocating funds and prioritising services.
The City of Edinburgh Council and the body set up by the council to deliver a tram system for Edinburgh, Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (tie), urgently need to establish a clear way ahead for the project. The Scottish Government should consider whether its agency Transport Scotland should become more actively involved.
An independent commission chaired by Lord Hutton is currently reviewing public pensions across the UK. Next month it will publish options for major reform which could lead to higher contributions by employees. An Audit Scotland report published today, The cost of public sector pensions in Scotland, says the Scottish Government and councils will need to implement changes in Scotland to ensure that pensions are fair and affordable in future.
An Audit Scotland report published today calls on the Scottish Government to consider a national review of how Scotland’s road network is managed and maintained.
The report also says key routes should be prioritised and services may need to be redesigned. It suggests that there may be room for more flexibility in how staff and machinery are deployed.
The Best Value Audit and Inspection: Grampian Police and Grampian Joint Police Board provides an overview of how both these bodies are meeting their best value duties, and is a joint report from the Accounts Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS).
The performance assessment of the force found that there has been an overall reduction in recorded crimes since 2006/07 and crimes of violence, indecency, dishonesty and reckless behaviour are at their lowest level for seven years.
Since the first best value report in 2005, North Ayrshire Council has shown an increased commitment to providing Best Value, according to the Accounts Commission. The Commission finds that the council’s overall performance is satisfactory and it has fair prospects for future improvement.
The second Local Government National Scrutiny Plan has been published today. Prepared by the main organisations responsible for scrutinising Scotland’s councils, the activity timetable shows strategic scrutiny work for the financial year 2011/12, looking at each council overall and its key services.
The plan is based on risk assessments of each council and agreed local and national priorities. The number of separate pieces of audit or inspection work has dropped by a third compared to last year.
Accounts Commission chair, John Baillie said,
The Scottish Government, NHS and councils need to show stronger shared leadership and support for community health partnerships (CHPs) to improve people’s health and move more services into the community.
