Scottish National Investment Bank

The request was successful.

Dear Audit Scotland,

The Scottish Government has recently established the Scottish National Investment Bank as a wholly-owned company of the Scottish Ministers.

FOI request - three questions:

Q1 / Will Audit Scotland / Auditor General be responsible for the audit of the Scottish National Investment Bank?

Q2/ I understand that the work of Audit Scotland / Auditor General is reported to the Scottish Parliament's Public Audit & Post-legislative Scrutiny (PA&PLS) Committee. Thus, if Audit Scotland / Auditor General is responsible for the audit of the Scottish National Investment Bank then the results will be reported to PA&PLS Committee and if Audit Scotland / Auditor General is not responsible for the audit, results will not be reported. Is this interpretation correct?

Q/3 If Audit Scotland / Auditor General is not responsible for the audit of the Scottish National Investment Bank what would be required in order to make Audit Scotland / Auditor General responsible for the audit.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Paterson

Ian Metcalfe, Audit Scotland

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Paterson

 

This email is in response to your freedom of information request dated 29
November 2020.

 

I can confirm that the Scottish National Investment Bank is to be audited
by the Auditor General for Scotland by virtue of [1]The Companies Act 2006
(Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for
Scotland) Order 2020. Under s21 (3) of the [2]Public Finance and
Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 the Auditor General may audit the
accounts himself or appoint a qualified person, suitable for appointment
to audit the account by reason of, among other things, the person’s
professional qualifications and experience. This may be a member of staff
of Audit Scotland or one of the firms appointed to audit Scottish public
sector bodies. The Auditor General has not yet appointed an auditor to the
Scottish National Investment Bank but will do so early in the new year.

 

The Auditor General must send any accounts audited under his
responsibility to Scottish Ministers who must lay the accounts in the
Scottish Parliament. Scottish Ministers must lay such accounts in
Parliament within nine months of the year end of the body under s22 (5) of
the [3]Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. We
understand that the Scottish National Investment Bank will have a 31 March
year end.

 

The Auditor General has two mechanisms for further reporting to
Parliament:

 1. The Auditor General may prepare a report on the account to accompany
the accounts under s22 (3) of the [4]Public Finance and Accountability
(Scotland) Act 2000. The Scottish Parliament's Public Audit &
Post-legislative Scrutiny (PA&PLS) Committee normally considers any
such report.
 2. The Auditor General may initiate examinations into the economy,
efficiency and effectiveness with which bodies and office-holders have
used their resources in discharging their functions under s23 (1) of
the [5]Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. The
Scottish National Investment Bank is a body to which this power may be
 applied. The Auditor General is required to publish any such
accounts, and the PA&PLS Committee normally considers any such report.

 

In view of the above, your third question does not apply because the
Auditor General is responsible for the audit of the Scottish National
Investment Bank.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Ian Metcalfe

Corporate Performance Officer

Audit Scotland, 4th Floor, 102 West Port, Edinburgh EH3 9DN

T: 0131 625 1861

[mobile number]

E: [6][email address]

[7]www.audit-scotland.gov.uk

 

 

[8][IMG]

During the current COVID-19 suppression measures I am working from home.
For more information on Audit Scotland’s work during this situation, read
the statement on our website. [9]https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/

 

 

[10][IMG]

 

Right of review and appeal

If you are dissatisfied with how we have handled your information request
or would like us to reconsider the decision we made, please write to:
Diane McGiffen, Chief Operating Officer, at 102 West Port, Edinburgh, EH3
9DN. You should do this as soon as possible and within 40 working days of
the date of issue of our response to your request.

 

If, after that, you are still not satisfied you can ask the Scottish
Information Commissioner to review how we dealt with your request. This
should be done within 6 months after the date of receipt of our response
to your review. The Commissioner is independent of Audit Scotland and can
decide whether we acted properly and according to the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Scottish Information
Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16
9DS, Tel 01334 464 610, email [11][email address]

 

 

From: Mr Paterson <[12][FOI #709718 email]>
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2020 11:33 AM
To: BSS - Requests <[13][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Scottish National Investment
Bank

 

Dear Audit Scotland,

The Scottish Government has recently established the Scottish National
Investment Bank as a wholly-owned company of the Scottish Ministers.

FOI request - three questions:

Q1 / Will Audit Scotland / Auditor General be responsible for the audit of
the Scottish National Investment Bank?

Q2/ I understand that the work of Audit Scotland / Auditor General is
reported to the Scottish Parliament's Public Audit & Post-legislative
Scrutiny (PA&PLS) Committee. Thus, if Audit Scotland / Auditor General is
responsible for the audit of the Scottish National Investment Bank then
the results will be reported to PA&PLS Committee and if Audit Scotland /
Auditor General is not responsible for the audit, results will not be
reported. Is this interpretation correct?

Q/3 If Audit Scotland / Auditor General is not responsible for the audit
of the Scottish National Investment Bank what would be required in order
to make Audit Scotland / Auditor General responsible for the audit.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Paterson

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Dear Ian Metcalfe,

Thank you for providing a detailed reply to my FOI request.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Paterson