{{short description|Auditor General for Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use British English|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Caroline Gardner | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|CPFA|FRSE}} | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | office = Auditor General for Scotland | term_start = July 2012 | term_end = 2020 | monarch = Queen Elizabeth II | first_minister1 = Alex Salmond (2011–2014) | first_minister2 = Nicola Sturgeon (2014–present) | predecessor = Robert Black | profession = Accountant

}} '''Caroline Jane Gardner ''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|CPFA|FRSE}} was the Auditor General for Scotland between June 2012 and July 2020. She is a former president of Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) 2006−7.

==Career== Gardiner is originally from London. She studied for her CIPFA exams while working as a trainee accountant at the Wolverhampton Borough council.<ref name="PFmag 8Jun2012">{{cite news |url=http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/2006/06/profile-caroline-gardner-constant-gardner |title=Profile Caroline Gardner Constant Gardner |first=Mike |last=Thatcher |work=Public Finance |date=8 June 2006 |accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> She moved to Edinburgh in 1995, taking up the post of director of health and social work studies at the Accounts Commission.<ref name="PFmag 8Jun2012" /> When Audit Scotland was created in 2000, she became the deputy auditor general.<ref name="PFmag 8Jun2012" />

She was a member of the CIPFA Council since 2000.<ref name="PFmag 8Jun2012" /> She was the chair of CIPFA in Scotland in 2001−2002.<ref name="PFmag 8Jun2012" /> She became CIPFA's 116th president, from June 2006 to June 2007.<ref name="PFmag 8Jun2012" />

She was seconded as the chief financial officer of the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2010.<ref name="Holyrood 22Jul2014">{{cite news |url=https://www.holyrood.com/articles/interviews/when-auditor-calls |title=When the auditor calls | first=Will |last=Peakin |work=Holyrood |date=22 July 2014 |accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> After this she spent a short period freelancing.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/2012/09/gardner’s-question-time-auditor-general-interview |title=Gardner's question time: auditor general interview |first=Vivienne |last=Russell |work=Public Finance |date=5 September 2012 |accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref>

In March 2012, the Scottish Parliament decided that Caroline Gardner should succeed Robert Black.<ref name="PFmag 30Mar2012">{{cite news |url=http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2012/03/gardner-set-become-auditor-general-scotland |title=Gardner set to become auditor general for Scotland |first=Keith |last=Aitken |work=Public Finance |date=30 March 2012 |accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> In July she took up the position of Auditor General, and Accountable Officer for Audit Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/about-us/auditor-general/ |title=About us: Auditor general |publisher=Audit Scotland |accessdate=20 December 2015}}</ref> She was in office at the onset of the United Kingdom government austerity programme, where there was a reduction in public services to repay debt incurred after the 2008 financial crisis.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.holyrood.com/inside-politics/view,moving-forward-auditor-general-caroline-gardner-on-the-recovery-and-why-she-fears-more-austerity-would-be-disastrous_15657.htm |title=Moving forward - Auditor General Caroline Gardner on the recovery and why she fears more austerity would be "disastrous" |first=Rebecca |last=McQuillan |work=Holyrood |date=17 June 2020 |access-date=9 July 2024}}</ref> She was succeed in the role by Stephen Boyle in July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Auditor General {{!}} Audit Scotland |url=https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/about-us/auditor-general#:~:text=Stephen%20Boyle%20started%20his%20term,the%20lives%20of%20Scotland%27s%20people. |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=www.audit-scotland.gov.uk}}</ref>

In March 2024 she was appointed by the University of Glasgow as Honorary Professor at the Centre for Public Policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_1058233_en.html |title=Former Auditor General for Scotland appointed as Honorary Professor at the Centre for Public Policy |publisher=University of Glasgow |date=19 March 2024 |access-date=9 July 2024}}</ref>

==Honours== In March 2016, Gardner was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy for science and letters.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/1200_2016ElectedFellows.html |title=The Royal Society of Edinburgh &#124; 2016 Elected Fellows |website=Royalsoced.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2016-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008113046/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/1200_2016ElectedFellows.html |archive-date=8 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to the Scottish public sector.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63218|supp=y|page=N8|date=31 December 2020}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/about-us/auditor-general/ profile] at Audit Scotland website

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Caroline}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Scottish accountants Category:British women accountants Category:Women chief financial officers Category:Civil servants from London Category:Political office-holders in Scotland Category:Scottish economists Category:British women economists Category:Financial economists Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:21st-century British women civil servants Category:Scottish women civil servants