Auditor General for Scotland announces retirement

Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black, announced today that he intends to retire.

Mr Black has written to the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament saying that he wishes to retire from the position which he has held since 2000. Mr Black is Scotland’s first Auditor General.

Mr Black said:

"It has been an enormous privilege and honour to hold the role of Auditor General for Scotland for the past 11 years. It has been a challenging and hugely rewarding time, covering the early years of devolution, the growth of Scotland’s public sector and, more recently, the onset of fiscal austerity arising from the global financial crisis.

“I believe that we have created a robust model of public audit in Scotland. With the support and involvement of the Parliament and in particular the Public Audit Committee, we have created in Scotland an effective regime for scrutinising public spending, but at the same time this regime is also designed to help and support improvement across the public sector.'

“I have been extremely fortunate in having outstanding colleagues working with me in Audit Scotland. None of the achievements of the past decade would have been possible without their great commitment, professionalism and expertise."

Mr Black indicated that he will stay in his post until his successor is appointed. This process is likely to take until the spring of next year.

The post of Auditor General for Scotland was established by the Scotland Act which created the Scottish Parliament. Mr Black was appointed by the Queen to the post in February 2000, on the unanimous recommendation of the Scottish Parliament, shortly before Audit Scotland was formed.

Prior to becoming Auditor General, Mr Black was a local authority chief executive for ten years, first with Stirling District and then with Tayside Regional Council until just before its abolition in 1996. He then moved to be Controller of Audit and chief executive with the Accounts Commission until he was appointed Auditor General in 2000.