Audit Scotland: The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts – Clearer plan needed to reform public services.

2 comments

1. >Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said:
   “The Scottish Government responded quickly to the impact of inflation and other factors on the
   public finances. But most of the decisions taken were short-term and will not help manage more
   turbulence over the next few years.
   **“Public services in their current shape are not affordable**. Ministers urgently need to develop a
   clear road map that lays out how public services **will be reformed to make them financially
   sustainable.”**

   So a council tax freeze, rather than a cap, would seem to be last thing we need

2. >I have reported previously about the underinvestment in core IT
   systems and the risk that the current systems are no longer fit for
   purpose. The Scottish Government must move forward with the
   implementation of the corporate transformation programme to mitigate
   the related risks and realise future efficiencies.

   Some consolidation and deduplication would be helpful?

   I know from experience of reporting potholes & planning, that councils have different systems in place to manage what is the same function. This means economies of scale aren’t done. This should be a standardised system replicated across the 32 councils