The Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations
1985
Section 5 provides 'any interested
person' (as defined under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973) with a right
to inspect the books,
deeds, contracts, vouchers and receipts.
However, the regulations in Scotland
provide 15 working days for inspecting the accounts, compared with 20 days in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The law in Scotland differs from other
parts of the UK in that local electors and taxpayers are under a strict time
limit for lodging formal objections to any items
of expenditure.
'Interested persons' (which includes taxpayers, voters
and representatives of businesses contributing indirectly to the local authority
accounts) have a maximum of 21 working days in which to file objections
from the date that the documents first become available for inspection.
In
England and Wales, formal objections can be made up until the formal closure of
the accounts.
As Audit Scotland states on its own website, section 101
of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 enables copies or extracts of the
accounts to be taken "without charge".
This
is in contrast to practice by a minority of English local authorities which attempt
to levy a copying charge on documents requested by local taxpayers - notably Liverpool
City Council.
Details of public inspection periods are published by Audit Scotland
on its website.
Link to Audit
Scotland website 
