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ARCHIVED - Horizontal Internal Audit of Compliance with the Common Services Policy
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Executive Summary
The objective of this audit was to determine whether common service organizations (CSOs) and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (the Secretariat), in its role as a central agency, are fulfilling the requirements of the Common Services Policy.
Why This Is Important
The objective of the Common Services Policy is to ensure that departments and agencies can acquire responsive and cost-effective support for their program delivery. It establishes the role of CSOs within the Government of Canada in creating a more streamlined, efficient and responsive public service.
In addition, the Government of Canada is currently examining the economy and efficiency of the delivery of common services with a view to providing an outlook on how services could be shared or otherwise improved.[1] This audit will provide insight into areas where more clarity or support is required.
Key Findings
The Secretariat is responsible for periodically evaluating the Common Services Policy to ensure that policy requirements are relevant and in line with current government priorities. The Secretariat has not conducted an evaluation of the Common Services Policy;however, a draft directive was developed but not issued pending the results of key government initiatives such as administrative services review that may impact the policy. As a result, the policy has not been updated to reflect the current environment.
CSOs are responsible for developing a management control framework over their services to help set the future direction of these services. CSOs are delivering their services in consideration of government priorities, are offering services within their mandate, and have, for the most part, effective performance information for decision making. However, some CSOs would benefit from stronger planning practices to ensure that their services address clients' needs.
In managing the fees set for common services, CSOs are responsible for having costing practices in place to support rates charged to other departments and are responsible for regularly measuring cost-effectiveness. CSOs have sufficient financial information to operate within the provisions of the Common Services Policy. However, policies need to be revised to ensure that rate-setting requirements related to the various service delivery models reflect the current government environment. In addition, most CSOs have not yet developed practices to measure the cost-effectiveness of their services in order to ensure that their services are providing value for money.
Lastly, CSOs are responsible for managing the quality of their service delivery. CSOs have developed some practices for managing their service quality, but there are some areas for improvement. Most CSOs do not have consistent service standards that are linked to measures of performance and are outlined in service agreements. This limits their ability to hold their managers accountable for service standards and make informed service improvements. In addition, the Secretariat's guidance has not been finalized in this area.
Conclusion
CSOs, for the most part, are fulfilling their responsibilities under the Common Services Policy. Improvements are required in measuring cost-effectiveness of services and developing service agreements with client departments. The Secretariat has not evaluated the policy to ensure that it is up-to-date and relevant. In addition, the Secretariat needs to review policies to ensure that rate-setting requirements related to the various service delivery models reflect the current government environment.
