Auditor General for Scotland
The Auditor General for Scotland is the public official in charge of the Audit Scotland, the body responsible for auditing most of Scotland's public bodies, except local authorities. The Auditor General oversees the scrutiny of how public money is spent by the directorates of the Scottish Government, government agencies, National Health Service bodies, further education colleges and most Non Departmental Public Bodies.
It is a statutory appointment made by Her Majesty the Queen, on the recommendation of Scottish Parliament.
The post was created under section 69 of the Scotland Act 1998. The main functions of the AGS are set out under section 70 of the Scotland Act and further provided for under the Public Finance and Accountability Act 2000. The Police and Fire Reform Act 2012 legislated for mergers of some emergency service bodies, and also for the Auditor General to become responsible for auditing the Scottish Police Authority, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
The first Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black, took up the role in February 2000. Black was succeeded by Caroline Gardner, who started in July 2012.
