Press Release
Accounts Commission findings
The Accounts Commission for Scotland has today (Wednesday) released its findings on this Council's improvement work. These findings come as a result of the meeting they held before Christmas to consider Audit Scotland's follow-up report on progress the Council has made since August 2010.
Commenting on the report, Council Chief Executive Alistair Buchan said, "The Chair of the Improvement Sounding Board, Cecil Smith and I attended the Accounts Commission meeting before Christmas. So, we were aware of the discussions that had taken place. Today's findings make it clear that, although we have achieved a considerable amount in a short space of time, there is still some way to go.
"As I see it, we have had an initial burst of intense activity since August 2010. That was very much about putting in place the building blocks for longer-term improvement. However, I think we now must concentrate on two things. Firstly, we must take action on the outstanding areas of our Improvement Plan. I'm confident that we will beseeing another set of achievements in the coming weeks. Secondly, we must ensure that the changes we have put in place are sustained. We cannot sit back after this report. We must push on from this, ensuring the changes take hold so we continue to see our work grow and transform the way this Council does its business well into the future.
"We mustn't forget the fact that, as well as the follow-up audit asked for by the Accounts Commission, all Councils are about to be audited through the Best Value 2 (BV2) programme. If we keep things on track and continue to deliver the changes required, I am hopeful that this Council will be well positioned to get a favourable BV2 audit. So, welcome as these findings are, we must all continue to look to the future and keep up the effort".
“Most importantly however the changes we are making are not to satisfy the Accounts Commission. They are to ensure that the Council is as efficient and effective as possible in serving the Shetland community”.
Political Leader, Josie Simpson said, "I think that the findings are very positive. They show just how much work has been done to move this Council ahead over the 16 months since the last report. The issues with our finances have been well reported and I think we are now seeing genuine progress. Members of the Executive Committee agreed a comprehensive Finance Improvement Plan in November, we have appointed a Financial Accountant and hope to announce the appointment of a new Executive Manager - Finance soon. We’re also expecting a report to the Executive Committee in the next few weeks which seeks to address the qualification on the accounts. So, all in all, I think we are certainly moving in the right direction”.
Accounts Commission report - PDF 798KB