Publication: Annual report 2024/25

June 11, 2025 by Audit Scotland

Annual report and accounts 2024/25

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2024/25 in numbers

253 Accounts audited
10 National and local performance reports
20 Briefings, reports and blogs
17 Technical guides
£52.9bn
Payments under Comptroller function

Chair's
welcome

The impact of robust, independent and reliable public audit is crucial for taxpayers, users of public services and decision-makers at any time. It is even more so now, when public finances and bodies are under significant financial and demand pressures.

In that context, we are focused on ensuring public audit has a strong and tangible impact from the work we do across all public services. At its heart, public audit drives accountability and transparency about public finances. This in turn empowers good governance of the almost £60 billion of annual public spending in Scotland...

Colin Crosby OBE
Chair of the Audit Scotland Board

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Accountable Officer’s report

Public audit can and must play a role in the fundamental reforms needed in public services if they are to be sustained in the future. For several years, public auditors and others have warned about the scale and pace of the changes needed to services and financial management.

It would be unfair to say that this has gone unheeded. But from the Scottish Government through to individual bodies, those in charge of driving change are also trying to meet today’s demands and expectations amid tightening budgets and structural issues. Balancing the day job with making the major changes needed is difficult...

Stephen Boyle
Accountable Officer and Auditor General for Scotland

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Our year

Annual audits

Performance audits

Best Value Assurance

Making a difference

How audit can support reform

Scotland’s public bodies, decision-makers and leaders are in no doubt about the need for urgent and fundamental reform.

But they face many challenges, not least the need to keep delivering vital services in the face of rising demand and tightening budgets.

In this context, public audit has a role in supporting reform that goes beyond highlighting the need for change. Through our work, we inform and support change by:

identifying barriers and opportunities; in October the AGS encouraged the Scottish Government to review the public sector workforce as it addresses a forecast £1 billion shortfall
sharing good practice and case studies; for example, the Accounts Commission said other councils can learn from how Scottish Borders Council is tackling the issues many face across local government
coordinating projects, scrutiny and intelligence, through our scrutiny coordination work and other forums; in 2024/25 we participated in ten external roundtables and working groups on reform

setting the agenda and urgency and calling for transparent conversations and clear plans, such as through our fiscal sustainability, NHS and transformation in councils reports
sharing insights from the themes and data coming through our work; in August the AGS set out the common themes he saw during his first four years in post, and we presented at several Scottish and national events on reform
working in partnership to explore the key elements needed and the routes to reform, such as our joint event and report with the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

We continue to work on bolstering our approach.

During the coming year, this includes looking to create internal and external steering and reference groups to guide our work on reform, and testing new audit approaches.