On 13 September 2023, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission published Adult mental health.
The report says:
"The Scottish Government does not have sufficient oversight of most adult mental health services because of a lack of information. It does not measure the quality of care or the outcomes for people receiving it. The Scottish Government focuses on only waiting times for psychological therapies to assess how adult mental health and wellbeing services are performing. Performance against this measure has improved, but NHS boards are still struggling to meet waiting times standards. The system is fragmented, and accountability is complex, with multiple bodies involved in funding and providing mental health services. This causes complications and delays in developing services that focus on individuals’ needs".
Read the report on Audit Scotland's website.
Information about the Public Audit Committee's consideration of the report can be found below.
The Committee is running a call for views on what policies and actions would be most effective in addressing the issues.
More background info on the call for views.
The call for views closed on 20 October 2023.
These are the meetings where this inquiry was discussed
The Committee took evidence from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; Antony Clark, Interim Director of Performance Audit and Best Value; Angela Canning, Audit Director; and Gill Miller, Audit Manager, Performance Audit and Best Value, Audit Scotland.
Decision: The Committee agreed to take further evidence from the Auditor General for Scotland at a future meeting.
The Committee took evidence from:
Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland; Antony Clark, Interim Director of Performance Audit and Best Value; and Angela Canning, Audit Director, Audit Scotland.
Decision: The Committee agreed to invite the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland to give oral evidence at a future meeting.
Decision: The Committee agreed at its meeting on 19 May 2022 to invite the current Chief Executive and former Chair of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited to give oral evidence at a future meeting. It also agreed to invite the Director and Chief Executive of Fergusson Marine Engineering Limited to give oral evidence, on a separate panel, at a future meeting.
The Committee agreed to seek written evidence from the former Chief Executive of Transport Scotland, the former Director-General for Enterprise, Environment and Innovation and the former Minister for Transport and Islands, Scottish Government.
The Committee took evidence from:
Roy Brannen, Interim Director-General Net Zero; Colin Cook, Director of Economic Development; Dermot Rhatigan, Deputy Director Manufacturing and Industries; and Mo Rooney, Deputy Director Strategic Commercial Interventions, Scottish Government; and
Hugh Gillies, Interim Chief Executive, Fran Pacitti, Director of Aviation, Maritime, Freight and Canals; and Chris Wilcock, Head of Ferries Unit, Transport Scotland.
On Monday 31 October 2022 we went on a visit to engage directly with the workforce. What we heard is summarised in the following note:
Read the not (689KB, pdf) posted 18 August 2022e
The letters the committee sent and received as part of this inquiry
Letter from the Convener to Alison Irvine, Interim Chief Executive, Transport Scotland, 24 March 2023
Correspondence to the Convener from Michelle Quinn, Interim Chief Executive, Transport Scotland, 17 March 2023
Correspondence to the Convener from Rt Hon Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister, Scottish Government, 5 January 2023
Letter to the Convener from Rt Hon Alison Johnstone, Presiding Officer, 8 November 2022
Letter to the Convener from William Moyes, Chair, Accounts Commission, 23 May 2022