Chamber and committees

My understanding is that the Scottish Government is now looking at the production of such a framework. As you mentioned, there has been a long-standing call for that from Audit Scotland, from you and your predecessor. Do you know when that framework will be published?

Thank you very much indeed. Sharon Dowey has a series of questions to ask.

So nothing has been finalised yet.

There is a section on whistleblowing in the report. I want to get this right: that refers to whistleblowing for employees of the organisation, not whistleblowers who have a part to play in complaints that come to the organisation. I am sure that there is a Latin equivalent of this. Given that I presume that the organisation deals, from time to time, with complaints by people who are covered by the public interest disclosure legislation—people who are whistleblowers—that begs the question why there is not, within an organisation that looks at those matters, an effective whistleblowing policy. A recommendation has been made that that needs to be addressed. Where are we with that?

Yes. I think that it would be useful if you could take us through the broad themes of that and why you arrived at the decision to postpone.

Sorry, Mr Lowe—you froze, so we did not get the last 60 seconds of your answer.

I remind you that if you want to augment the oral evidence that you have given us in writing, please feel free to do that. That may be useful and you alluded to that at the start of that round of questions. It would be helpful for the committee if you could give us the updated figure on the balance when you have it.

I turn to a series of questions on the management of the census programme. I invite Willie Coffey and then Sharon Dowey to come in.

Welcome back. Item 3 on our agenda is consideration of “The 2020/21 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts”. I am pleased to welcome three people from Audit Scotland to give evidence on the report: Stephen Boyle, who is the Auditor General; Michael Oliphant, who is an audit director; and Helen Russell, who is a senior audit manager of audit services.

We have a series of questions, and we will try to get through as much of the report as we can. However, it makes sense to us that we give the report due consideration, and it may be that we come back again in the coming weeks to have a further evidence session on this important report.

I begin by asking the Auditor General to make an opening statement.

One aspect that is highlighted in the report, especially in and around Covid-related payments, is the question of fraud and risks of fraud. Willie Coffey has a number of questions on that subject.

Before we finish, Auditor General, I highlight that the committee’s attention was attracted by your judgment that it was necessary to spotlight the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in your report on the Scottish Government’s consolidated accounts. You identify special payments to the tune of £40.2 million that the service had to make in the financial year 2020-21, £40 million of which were payments to individuals following legal action against the Lord Advocate

“in connection with the acquisition and administration of Rangers Football Club”.

By my calculation, 99.5 per cent of those special payments went to those individuals. From an audit perspective, we are interested in finding out whether that gives you fundamental concerns about the service’s financial position.

Thank you. Are you in a position to give us an estimate of the outstanding exposure to the cases being litigated, given what you have said about one of the cases being settled, two being closed and others still on-going? Do you have a sense of the value of those cases?