The Scottish Government Non Domestic Rating Account for the year ended 31 March 2024

Statement of Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities

24. Under paragraph 6 of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992, the Director-General Communities is required to prepare a statement of accounts for each financial year in the form and on the basis determined by Scottish Ministers. The accounts must properly present the receipts and payments for the financial year and the balances held at year end.

25. In preparing the Non-Domestic Rating Account, the Accountable Officer is required to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) and in particular to observe the accounts direction issued by Scottish Ministers (which is reproduced in Appendix A), including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis. The Accountable Officer confirms that applicable accounting standards as set out in the FReM have been followed, and that the Non-Domestic Rating Account as a whole is fair, balanced and reasonable. The responsibilities of the Accountable Officer are described in the Memorandum to Accountable Officers from the Principal Accountable Officer published in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

26. For the purposes of the audit, so far as the Accountable Officer is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware, and all necessary steps have been taken by the Accountable Officer to ensure awareness of relevant audit information and to establish that the Scottish Government’s auditors are aware of that information.

Louise MacDonald

Accountable Officer

Director-General Communities