Scrutiny of investment of monies generated from licences: FOI Release

FOI reference: FOI/18/02980
Date received: 13 October 2018
Date responded: 30 October 2018

Information requested

How do the Scottish Government ensure councils invest money generated from licenses such as the house in multiple occupancy and taxi license.

Response

As councils in Scotland operate independently of central government, the Scottish Government does not monitor how councils invest money generated from licenses such as the house in multiple occupancy and taxi license.

However, councils' financial performance is subject to both internal and external audit and scrutiny to encourage good practice and improvement.

The Scottish Government have set up a number of independent bodies, such as Audit Scotland, the Accounts Commission, and the Auditor General, to monitor the work of local authorities.

Each year, the Scottish Government issues financial returns relating to local government finance for completion by local authorities on the basis of audited annual accounts.  The financial returns are pulled together to provide a comprehensive overview of Scottish local authority financial activity.  The ‘Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics’ cover local authority income, revenue and capital expenditure, outstanding debt, local taxation and local authority pensions, and are published annually.

Further information on Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics can be found at the link below.

Local Government Finance

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