Management Response and Action Plan - Audit of the Operational Planning Process
June 2014
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| Recommendations | Planned Management Actions | Deliverables | Proposed/Approved Completion Date | Accountability/ Responsibility |
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| Recommendation 1 It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Planning and International Affairs Branch, in collaboration with branch heads, develop an Agency operational plan that reflects all key initiatives and resources in support of the achievement of the Agency's strategic objectives. |
Management agrees with the recommendation. In 2013-14, Executive Committee, in a year of change management, decided specifically to highlight branch key initiatives in the operational plan. The result, which was expected, was a plan that focused on the major changes in resource use and/or how ranch activities were supporting key priorities. For 2014-15, the Strategic Policy, Planning and International Affairs Branch has shifted back to a more typical Agency Operational Plan process that is intended to capture all of the Agency's resources at a strategic level. |
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| The Agency Operational Plan will reflect the utilization of all Agency resources at a strategic level. | Completed AOP for the 2015-16 cycle that reflects all of the Agency's financial resources by branch and by PAA. | June 2015 |
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| Updated AOP Call Letter and Guide for the 2015-16 cycle that states that operational plans must reflect all of the Agency's resources. | October 2014 | ADM, SPPIAB | ||
| The Agency will develop a summary analysis of all organizational operational plans. | A summary analysis of all organizational operational plans is included in the AOP for the 2015-16 cycle. | June 2015 | ADM, SPPIAB | |
| Recommendation 2 It is recommended that the Chief Financial Officer ensure that the financial information in the Agency operational plans is complete and accurate. |
Management agrees with the recommendation. The 2014-15 Agency Operational Plan (AOP) will reflect all of the Agency resources. Further, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will provide Quality Assurance (QA) to confirm that branch resources align with organizational budget plans. |
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| The CFO will verify that the financial information in the AOP is accurate and related to organizational plans aligned with these budgets. | OCFO verification process put in place and implemented. | July 2014 | OCFO | |
| Recommendation 3 It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Planning and International Affairs Branch, work collaboratively with branch heads to ensure that:
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Management agrees with the recommendation. The 2012-13 fiscal year, upon which the audit focused, was the first year of the Health Canada-PHAC Shared Services Partnership (SSP). It was a transition year for the Agency, Health Canada and the SSP. Under the SSP Agreement, resources are pooled and responsibilities for providing internal services are shared between Health Canada and the Agency. While Health Canada is administratively responsible for certain internal services, the Agency remains accountable for ensuring that the shared services meet the Agency's program needs. Both Deputy Heads retain full responsibility and accountability to execute their full mandate. |
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| The Agency and the internal services functions under the SSP will work together to ensure that operational plans reflect internal service requirement needs. | Agency internal services requirements are reflected in branch plans for 2015-16 cycle. | June 2015 |
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| The Agency will ensure integration and accuracy of information related to risk and investments through the enhancement of planning documents and tools. | Updated AOP Guide for 2015-16 cycle outlining requirement to integrate all of the risk mitigating strategies documented in the Corporate Risk Profile and all of the investments in the Investment Plan. | October 2014 |
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| SPPIAB and branches include all of the Agency's Corporate Risk Profile risk treatments and all proposed investments (to be profiled in the Investment Plan) in the Agency Operational Plan. | June 2015 |
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| Recommendation 4 It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Planning and International Affairs Branch, enhance the tools currently in place to better facilitate the collection, consolidation and consistency of planning information, and provide guidance to the branches regarding the internal services required from shared services entities. |
Management agrees with the recommendation. The Agency will explore using new business intelligence (BI) tools, including an enterprise BI tool that is currently in development, to improve the collection, consolidation and consistency of planning information. In the interim, SPPIAB will work with branches to improve existing tools. This will be informed by a post 2014-15 AOP review with branch planners. |
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| As a precursor to any new processes, current BI tools will be reviewed and updated, considering lessons learned from 2014-15, best practices and efficiencies, in order to enable the efficient consolidation and consistency of branch planning information. | Updated planning and reporting tools for the 2015-16 cycle that takes into account lessons learned from 2014-15, best practices and efficiencies to better facilitate the collection, consolidation and consistency of planning information. | October 2014 | ADM, SPPIAB | |
| The Agency will explore using new BI tools to improve the collection, consolidation and consistency of planning information. In particular, the Agency will consider the automated tools of other government departments in determining the optimal system for Agency needs. | Consultation with planning, performance, risk and reporting partners to define and develop business intelligence options. | September 2015 | ADM, SPPIAB | |
| Needs assessment completed and business intelligence tool requirements confirmed. | March 2016 | ADM, SPPIAB | ||
| EC review and approval of business intelligence options. | July 2016 | ADM, SPPIAB | ||
| Recommendation 5 It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Planning and International Affairs Branch, in collaboration with branch heads:
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Management agrees with the recommendation. A 2014-15 AOP review will be undertaken to inform enhancements to the oversight and challenge functions. Consideration will be given to aligning AOP progress reports with the banking day process and the timing of financial progress reports to EC. |
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| Informed by the 2014-15 AOP review, identified improvements will be applied to enhance the planning and reporting oversight, challenge and quality assurance functions. | Enhancements to process and procedures for challenge and quality assurance review of all branch plan submissions, including a revised roles and responsibilities document. | October 2014 |
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| The Agency will establish an annual schedule for regular monitoring and reporting to EC that includes banking days. | Annual schedule for regular monitoring and reporting to EC. | October 2014 | ADM, SPPIAB | |
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