I am the Auditor General for Scotland.  My post is an independent one which is appointed by the Crown.  I report to the Scottish Parliament and I am held accountable for Audit Scotland's work.

My role is to examine how public bodies spend public money; make sure they manage their finances to the highest standards and make sure they achieve value for money.

Public bodies that I am responsible for scrutinising include: directorates of the Scottish Government; government agencies, eg the Prison Service, Historic Scotland; National Health Service (NHS) bodies; further education colleges; Scottish Water; Non-departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and others, eg Scottish Enterprise.

I do not scrutinise: local councils; police boards; fire and rescue boards.  These bodies are scrutinised by the Accounts Commission.

I am assisted in my role by Audit Scotland.  It is a shared services organisation which investigates, on my behalf, various aspects of how public bodies work.