The system of accountability in Scotland's public bodies has to be clearer, the Auditor General for Scotland Robert Black has warned.

At a time when the public sector is making major changes and hard choices about the future of services, there is a risk of confusion about who leads an organisation and is responsible for decisions.

An Audit Scotland report, The Role of Boards, examines the governance arrangements of NHS bodies, colleges, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, non-departmental public bodies and Scottish Water. The report covers 106 boards which oversee £17bn of spending a year, about half of the Scottish public budget.

Accountability can be complex, with chief executives and boards reporting in different ways to the Scottish government, ministers and the Scottish parliament. Black said: "The Scottish government has made progress with its public sector reform agenda but the public sector landscape remains complex with a variety of accountability arrangements.

"The need for strong leadership and clearer accountability in the public sector is crucial, now more than ever with budgets reducing. Over the coming years boards will have to make tough choices about public services. There will need to be clear and well understood relationships between public bodies and the Scottish government to agree priorities and manage budget reductions."

He added: "Board members must scrutinise rigorously their organisation's risks, financial management and performance. Some boards do this well but others need to exercise this central role more effectively."

Between 2004/05 and 2008/09, the number of people applying to become non-executives board members in the public sector more than halved. By 2008/09, Scottish ministers had no choice of candidate for more than a fifth of appointments.

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=14302