Our impact
Public audit in Scotland has a vision that public money is well spent to meet the needs of Scotland’s people. We aim for our work to drive change across four outcomes, and thus in the lives and experiences of communities and individuals across Scotland.
To achieve this, our work must have impact. We consider this in several ways, from the reach of and engagement with our work through to whether our recommendations are influencing change and ultimately to what changes and outcomes occur as a result.
We take a proportionate, robust and flexible approach to evaluating our impact. We recognise recommendations follow up is not as in depth as audit work itself, so our focus is less about reporting on each recommendation, and more on the nature of the recommendations we make across our audit work and developing a holistic understanding of what is changing in public services due to our audit work. Ultimately public bodies are responsible for implementing audit recommendations and we cannot compel them to do so.
Monitoring and evaluating our impact is important. It helps us understand whether we are making a difference and where we should focus our work and recommendations. Through this, we can ultimately achieve the outcomes and vision of public audit.
Our latest report
Published in September 2025
Our impact: Monitoring and evaluation report 2025
Impact monitoring and evaluation report: July 2024Our impact monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework
| When | What | How |
|---|---|---|
Monitoring early impact (0-3 months) |
| Product by product reach and engagement: Media, Social media, Web, Conferences, Committees and Stakeholder feedback. |
Evaluating early impact (In line with agreed timescales) |
| Product by product impact and recommendations tracking: Progress, Effectiveness, Reflections and Stakeholder feedback. |
Evaluating long-term impact (24 months +) | What difference have we made through public audit? | Package of products: Track impact of our audit work on public audit outcome measures |
Public Audit in Scotland sets out the impact we are trying to have
Vision
Public money is well spent to meet the needs of Scotland’s people.
Mission
Provide clear, independent and objective assurance on how effectively public money is being managed and spent.
Outcomes
- Public services in Scotland work better together to target resources more effectively.
- Financial planning and management are more effective across Scotland’s public services.
- Public bodies deliver clearer and more transparent reporting.
- Our recommendations have a positive impact for people in Scotland.
Performance audit impact process
| Activity | Timing | Further details |
|---|---|---|
| Publish performance audit report | Month 0 | Reports to include SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) recommendations that teams have discussed with audited bodies during the audit. |
| Finalise follow up plan Issue stakeholder feedback survey | Circa month 3 | Audit teams finalise follow up plan in consultation with audited bodies, ensuring clarity around sources of monitoring data and timescales. Audited bodies asked to provide response on recommendations acceptance and to provide feedback on quality and clarity of recommendations and their experience of the audit. |
| Gather evidence and assess progress with recommendations | In line with agreed timescales | Audit teams monitor progress with recommendations in line with follow up plan, requesting data and evidence as required from audited bodies in line with agreed timescales. |
Report on impact:
| Months 18+ (Annually in July) | Impact reports published annually with audit reports and recommendations coming into scope based on agreed implementation timescales. Primary focus of report is holistic, aggregated data on impact. Where this is supplemented with specific examples, audit teams will liaise with audited bodies to ensure adequate clearance. |
Annual audit impact process
| Activity | Timing | Further details |
|---|---|---|
| Publish Annual Audit Report | In line with statutory deadlines by sector | Reports to include SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) recommendations that teams have discussed with audited bodies during the audit. Audited bodies asked to provide a management response to recommendations, including on recommendations acceptance. |
| Gather feedback from stakeholders | Annually in December | Audited bodies asked to provide feedback on quality and clarity of recommendations, impact of the audit and their experience of the audit. |
| Audit planning | Annually (Jan-Jun) | Audit teams gather evidence and assess progress with recommendations as part of planning the next year’s audit and on an ongoing basis through the audit cycle. |
Report on impact:
| Annually in July | Annual audit impact data for previous audit year included in July impact report. Primary focus of report is holistic, aggregated data on impact. Where this is supplemented with specific examples, audit teams will liaise with audited bodies to ensure adequate clearance. |
