What are some of the highlights of being an Accounts Commission member video transcript: Jennifer Henderson, Andrew Burns and Ruth MacLeod
Jennifer Henderson: So one of the roles I play on the Commission is to sponsor various of our performance reports, and that means working with the audit teams to scope the work that needs to be done, to think about the question we’re trying to answer, to look at how the audit team are planning on going about gathering the evidence for that question.
And then when the report is being developed, think about the key messaging, think about how we want to set out Commission expectations based on what we find. 
And then often it means leading on the media work to get that report publicised and to really get the messages out there. And we’re very fortunate at the Commission, we have really excellent support in the media work, so you’re not on your own doing that. 
Andrew Burns: In the last 12 months probably the highlight for me has been a couple of occasions, if not three of four actually, when I’ve been down visiting the Scottish Parliament. Sometimes I’ll be down representing the Commission as Deputy Chair, with Audit Scotland officers. And sometimes I’ll be down with the Auditor General, Stephen Boyle when we’ve got a joint Auditor General for Scotland, Accounts Commission report. Usually in front of the Public Audit Committee but sometimes in front of the Local Government Committee. And I always enjoy those processes and being able to get in front of parliamentary committees and talk about the work of the Commission or the work of Audit Scotland more generally. Because I think it’s really important that MSPs, members of the Scottish Parliament, understand what Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission do.
Ruth MacLeod: We also have the opportunity to visit councils that have been audited through best value reports and this year I’ve been to visit Shetland Council and then also North Lanarkshire Council, so two very diverse council areas facing a range of different challenges but also delivering really important, valuable work for the communities that they serve. And in North Lanarkshire for example, I got to see a recently built school that was also co-locating some community services in it, and some very happy citizens that were benefiting from the work that North Lanarkshire Council had done. And it was great to see that first hand, to meet people that had been part of that project, to meet people benefiting from it as well and to speak to local councillors and others about our reports and the work that we do.
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