| 2006 Audit Recommendations - Status Tracking | |||||||||
| 2006 CAWG WorkPlan / Summary of Issues Requiring Resolution from the AG's 2006 Workplan | |||||||||
| Audit Recommendation | Audit Management Response | Status Update / Comments | Resolution of City Manager and Auditor General | ||||||
| Audit | Recc. # | (Status, risks, issues regarding implementation, etc) | |||||||
| EFA | 4 | Re-instate the Supervisors Committee as a mechanism for Supervisors to meet on a regular basis to share information. | Management
disagrees with the recommendation. There are already opportunities in place that support supervisor information sharing such as: weekly management team meetings; topical management committees; management specific training and development sessions; and bi annual management forums and working sessions. |
The AG is satisfied with the management response, however, if inconsistency still exists when a follow-up audit is done then the Supervisors Committee will have to be reinstated to make sure than every one is aware of the same information. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| EFA | 22 | Develop an assessment tool to determine financial eligibility for Home Management Services. | Management
disagrees with the recommendation. An assessment tool for the Home Management program already exists. The vast majority of residents receiving home management services are ODSP and OW clients. The assessment tool used for those who are not in receipt of social assistance (low income) is the same as the one used to assess low-income applicants for the Home Help Program. |
Dependent on outcome of recommendation #18, 21. | The AG is satisfied with the management response however a follow-up audit will be done to ensure compliance. The AG requires evidence that there is an assessment tool and requires verification that the tool is being used to complete assessments on low-income applicants. The recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Fire Services | 12 | That the Ottawa Fire Service implement a formal management-led incident debriefing process, including a standard format for discussion and documentation of all findings and recommendations and report the results on all major incidents to senior management. | Management
does not agree with the recommendation. The Incident Commander at a call could be a Captain, District Chief or a Platoon Chief depending on the severity of the incident. This is the senior person at the call and is therefore, the best-positioned staff to manage a debriefing session, as they were present and participated in the call. Feedback from the debriefing sessions is then provided to the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief's) – Management - through a variety of formal processes. |
For future
discussion at Council Audit Working Group.
(No further action taken) Ottawa Fire Service’s debriefing process is
the following: § The incident commander submits a form, which included time of incident, damage, name of injured and the apparatus that responded, to the Platoon Office which in turn signs the form and submits it to all Deputy Chiefs and the Fire Chief § Fires of 3rd alarm (fire requiring 8 pump trucks, 3 ladder trucks, a heavy rescue truck and additional support vehicles in a hydrant area) or greater have a Deputy Fire Chief in attendance § For all 3rd alarm fires or greater, the Platoon Chief meets with the Deputy for incident management critique |
This item was discussed at the CAWG and it was agreed that this will be revisited when the arbitrator has ruled on allowing unionized staff to become management. This recommendation has been moved to the ongoing status tracking report. | ||||
| The management team then provides direction on changes at a strategic level such as changes to coordination of other city services, tactics and policy and procedures necessary to address weaknesses identified through the debriefing session in an effort to ensure staff are better prepared in the future. Fire management can and do request and receive additional information that they may require on any incident in order to make necessary recommendations on improving services. | A
formal incident debriefing is held the next shift with most first response
stations in attendance along with the Dispatcher that handled the call and
the Investigator if available Recommendations from Incident Commanders on major fires are discussed at the monthly Platoon Chief/Deputy Chief meetings Incident report filed on major fires by Incident Commander with recommendations on equipment, response and tactics All Safety Officers complete a report on all “Working Fires”. Any reports identifying problems or issues are submitted to the Deputy Chief of Operations for follow up and disposition Issues from Incident Reports are brought forward to Health and Safety Committee, which is co-chaired by the Deputy Chief of Prevention and Training, for discussion and action. These actions are then submitted to Management Team through the Committee Co-chair for implementation. |
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| Fire Services | 15 | That
the Ottawa Fire Services explore other potential opportunities to
revise its management structure including: Assigning Platoon Chiefs to non-shift regular hours; and, |
Management
disagrees with the recommendation. The Collective Agreement between the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Professional Firefighters’ Association and the Fire Protection and Prevention Act prescribe the hours of work and shift rotation to be utilized in the Fire Service Suppression and Operations’ Divisions. Accordingly, it would not be possible to assign these individuals to non-shift hours. To remove the position from the Platoon would require the consent of the Firefighters' Association, as it would be a collective bargaining issue. Secondly, It is important to note that the Platoon Chief is the single person in charge of each of four platoons in the 24/7 operations. They are the most senior person on duty citywide – including the rural areas, in the absence of Fire management, to provide oversight on behalf of the City. While management advocate that additional management positions are required overall per Auditor recommendation #14, the operations require oversight at the Platoon Chief level 24/7. |
This recommendation was discussed at the CAWG and it will be revisited once the ruling comes down from the arbitrator. This recommendation has been moved to the ongoing status tracking report | |||||
| Exchanging the existing non-unionized Rural Sector Chief positions with the existing Platoon Chief positions. | Management disagrees with the
recommendation. Currently Ottawa Fire Service enjoys the service of a successful Volunteer Complement of approximately 400 Firefighters. At amalgamation, after careful consideration, a decision was made to create the rural management positions as excluded from any bargaining unit. The Rural Sector Chief is a unique position that manages the recruitment, training, retention, oversight and termination of volunteer (non-unionized) firefighters. Their job is non-traditional in nature where they manage operations as well as act as a community liaison between the community they serve and the Ottawa Fire Service. Their hours are irregular by definition with training and other work required in the evenings and weekends when the volunteers are available after traditional work hours. This particular job type does not fit within the Collective Agreement between the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Professional Firefighters’ Association and it is appropriate that the Rural Sector Chief positions remain Management and Professional Exempt (MPE) positions. |
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| Fire Services | 19 | That the Community and Protective Service
Department explore the potential for integrating its management information
activities ; and consolidating its communications centre operations on a department-wide basis. |
Management does not agree with
the recommendation. A consultant’s report completed at amalgamation recommended that the Emergency Services consider co-locating their communication centres. However, preliminary costs for a consolidated communication centre were projected to be considerable and far outweighed the benefits the City was likely to realize. A significant benefit of consolidating a communication centre is the capability to share information. This has been achieved by the implementation of the new Fire CAD system, which is the same system that Ottawa Police use and now both services are sharing information and resources where appropriate. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) controls the Paramedic Communication Centre, although managed by the City of Ottawa, under a contract to the Province. Consequently, any changes to the Centre operations require approval by the Province. Some improvements have been made with information sharing by the limited implementation of the corporate radio system to the Paramedic Service. |
This recommendation was discussed at the CAWG and it was decided that it needed to go back to the CAWG in November for more discussion. Deputy City Manager of CPS to provide the final report. This recommendation is still outstanding. | |||||
| In
addition, current technology allows for a seamless delivery of service to the
citizens of Ottawa through the 911 system operated under contract by the
Ottawa Police Service. Finally, a recent benchmarking review of seven By-law Services in the Province, revealed that it is not a best practice to co-locate By-law dispatching services with other City services. |
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| Surface Operations | 4 | That the Branch create a Quality Assurance function for Roads, through the reallocation of existing resources, to provide checks and balances to the quality of road maintenance including appropriate preventive maintenance. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. Industry best practices clearly identify operational quality, effectiveness and efficiency as core management accountabilities. The Branch’s approach is to put in place management skills as well as financial and operational planning, and management tools to ensure that staff is knowledgeable, capable, and empowered to manage these items. Performance Measurement and Business Services Unit has been established with the responsibility to conduct internal Competitive Service Delivery Reviews (CSDR) analysis and support the performance management requirements. Audit mechanisms are already in place through the office of the Auditor General. Comparative tools such as OMBI and MPMP are also in place to benchmark performance against other municipalities. |
As
part of the Strategic Alignment Initiative, a Performance Measurement and
Business Services Unit has been established in the Surface Operations
Branch. We believe the Performance
Measurement and Business Services Unit will achieve the objectives of the
Auditor General's recommendations by working with line managers and
supervisors to embed a culture of critical review, continuous improvement,
and financial accountability within the branch. This, we believe, is a more inclusive approach in contrast to the detached (even if only perceived) function of "Quality Assurance" recommended. |
This recommendation has been addressed in the Auditor General's follow-up Surface Operations report. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Surface Operations | 6 | That the Branch re-engineer the planning and allocation of work so that all work is initiated by work orders issued by supervisors or other City staff (not the 311 system). Note that this will also facilitate the simplification of the accounting system. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation.
Work will be proactively planned and managed, and operational planning and accomplishment tracking is a major focus of current efforts. The Branch’s work is activity-based not work-order driven. Work orders are created where individual cost tracking is required. Individual work orders for all of the Branch’s work is not necessary and would create significant administrative inefficiencies. Individual work orders are created as required for specific work tracking. |
Briefing Note will be
required. As per management response. |
This recommendation has been addressed in the Auditor General's follow-up report. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Surface Operations | 12 | That the SOP budget not be increased until SOP has a good understanding of their financial situation. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation.
The budget, and Branch operations and services will be reviewed in a manner prescribed by Council to be established through the Budget Directions. |
This will be dealt with in the response to the Council motion. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Surface Operations | 13 | That the SOP budget not be increased while the Branch refines the manner it which it formulates its budget requests and redirects existing funds to programs which do have a strategic plan and related specific budget, specifically the Forestry program. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation.
The budget, and Branch operations and services will be reviewed in a manner prescribed by Council to be established through the Budget Directions. |
This will be dealt with in the response to the Council motion. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Surface Operations | 36 | That Surface Operations identify dedicated resources to direct minimum standards to be met in tendering and to coordinate and track maintenance and replacement of vehicles; and that such staff resources be supported by ongoing training on current industry practice and governmental standards related to vehicle and equipment function and purchasing. | Management
Response from Surface Operations Branch Management agrees with part of this recommendation. The Surface Operations Branch has dedicated a position to provide Fleet with a single point of contact for acquisition requirements. This position will also be working with Fleet Services on the development of a fleet equipment asset management strategy. |
SOPS
Comment: On track Surface Operations and Fleet Services have reengineered the acquisition process and the new process has been implemented. The process has resulted in improved decision making and prioritization in this year's acquisition plan. Operations Planning, once implemented, will provide additional information needed to make more strategic and longer term acquisition decisions. Staff turnover in the dedicated fleet position in Surface Operations has temporarily delayed work on the Branch's equipment strategy. Consulting resources have been engaged to provide temporary capacity to support "in flight" acquisitions. It is anticipated that work on the equipment strategy will not resume until late 2007 or early 2008. |
The recommendation is deferred until the Fleet follow-up audit in 2009. The recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Management
Response from Fleet Services Branch As a Center of Expertise, Fleet Services has the responsibility for planning, acquisition, disposal and replacement of vehicles. As outlined in the Service Level Agreement (SLA), the operator (Surface Operations) is responsible for identifying operational requirements outlining what the equipment is required for. Fleet Services take that information and develops specifications to meet those requirements based on the City of Ottawa’s purchasing By-law. Fleet’s role is to understand client requirements and provide them with equipment to meet the minimum operational requirements in a cost effective manner. Management does not agree with the part of the recommendation to provide Surface Operations staff with training on specifications as this would be a duplication of effort within the city, and would contravene the COE model and the SLA. This recommendation states that Surface Operations Branch should be responsible for areas that they are not accountable. |
Briefing Note will be required. | ||||||||
| Surface Operations | 37 | That the truck bodies be placed on a re-rehabilitation program that would see them inspected, sand blasted and re-painted as the rusting begins to appear. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. Fleet Services does not perform any cosmetic repairs for rusting, as it does not affect the operation of the vehicle. The condition of vehicle bodies is monitored as part of the annual inspection program. Structural repair is done when the vehicle does not meet the Ministry of Transportation requirements. Rusting is normally repaired if it is assessed that the rust will shorten the life of the vehicle. Cosmetic repairs are not done as a matter of course due to the additional cost. |
Briefing Note will be required. | Fleet has provided information to the Auditor General that supports that Fleet has a rehabilitation program in place. The AG has accepted the information and the recommendation is closed. | ||||
| IT Processes | 2b) | b) Remove access to the productions environment for all SAP ABAP developers; | b)
Management disagrees with this recommendation. SAP ABAP programmers require production access to investigate and diagnose production- related problems. SAP production global system settings prevent programmers from altering programs or altering application configuration tables. These changes can only be created in the development environment and must follow the published approval process before being promoted to production. Adjustment of global system parameters is restricted, monitored and logged. |
As of June
2007, the Support Centre will be preparing a monthly listing of all Support
Centre staff and consultants with production access, which will be reviewed
and approved by the SAP Program Manager. Complete SAP ABAP developers only have display access to production and reporting process for access levels has been put into place as of June 2007. |
The AG accepts the management response. This recommendation is complete. | ||||
| Munster Hamlet | 2 | That the Public Works and Services Department develop a policy for Council approval that once an Environmental Study Report has been in the public record for the statutory 30-day review period and any Part II Order requests have been resolved or the Ministry of the Environment has rejected them, the Class EA process not be re-opened unless the factors provided for in the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment take effect (Section A.4.2.2 of the Municipal Class EA). | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. The Municipal Engineers Association Class Environmental Assessment process is itself an undertaking approved under the Environmental Assessment Act. Both processes recognize and include provisions for changing circumstances including for completed Class EAs a mandatory requirement to review and reconfirm or modify both the assumptions and conclusions of a completed EA study every 5 years. The recommendation would seem to contradict this legislated requirement. The provisions for mandatory review contained in the Class EA process anticipate a wide range of circumstances including changes in legislation, new technologies, changes in original assumptions, etc. Although this resulted in long delays and created controversies in the community in the case of Munster, there are often instances where revisiting EA decisions due to new information is warranted. Restricting the reconsideration of decisions previously made would not be in keeping with intent of the overall Class EA process. |
The AG accepts the management response. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Wastewater | 6 | That
WDSD identify a specific group to lead and be responsible for all inflow and
infiltration reduction programs. Infrastructure Services |
Management
disagrees with this recommendation.
Responsibility for these programs rests with the Infrastructure Services Branch. Collaboration with the appropriate operating group is a well-established protocol. |
The AG accepts the management response. The identified group is infrastructure Services that is responsible for all inflow and infiltration reduction programs. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Wastewater | 18 | That the overall operations and maintenance
of the Wastewater System be reviewed to ensure accountability of an
individual below the level of Deputy City Manager. Utility Services, Infrastructure Services |
Management
disagrees with this recommendation.
USB and ISB understand their respective responsibilities and accountability. USB through the Wastewater and Drainage Services Division is accountable for the operation and maintenance of the sewer system. The Infrastructure Management Division of ISB is responsible for the asset management of the linear pipe network. Both groups work cooperatively to ensure that overall services are delivered effectively under the general direction of the Deputy City Manager of PWS. |
The AG accepted that the organization has been reviewed and that roles have been agreed upon. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 8 | That Fleet Services, with Supply Management, optimize the supply chain and logistics of spare parts in order to increase the turnover ratio up to the standards. | Management does not agree with
this recommendation. The Auditor has correctly indicated that turnover rates are a controlling characteristic indicative of the performance of the supply chain process. However, Materials Management is concerned that the Auditor has too narrowly interpreted or misapplied the components of the equation yielding an incorrect turnover rate that would become a standard going forward in evaluating inventory performance. This will have very real effects on service to the public if blindly implemented. Materials Management are of the opinion, that the rate should be evaluated against comparable sized fleets taking care to recognize clearly the fleet composition and characteristics. |
The AG has indicated that this will be review during the Inventory Audit. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 11 a) | That
Fleet Services join Materials Management in a combined effort to: a) Revise store staffing requirements. |
Management
does not agree with this recommendation.
Management agrees with the recommendation however it disagrees that it can be implemented within existing resources. Approval will be requested for an additional $180K Operating Budget funding in 2008 in order to allow Municipal Materials Management to hire three (3) Purchasing Stores Clerks to support currently unattended technician shifts. Presently, there are not any available resources to transfer staff from a regular day shift to an evening or night assignment. |
Supply Management Comment: A very preliminary analysis of the costs involved in implementing these three recommendations is $340K, which will be requested in the 2008 budget, subject to the CAWG accepting the management response. |
Management and
the AG agree that additional resources will be required. However, prior to
requesting additional resources, management has made a commitment to advance
the review of the Fleet Services branch, as part of the Branch Process Review
Program. Any savings identified through this process will be used to fund
activities related to implementing the Auditor General’s recommendations. The
BPRP review will take place by Q3 2008.
This recommendation has been moved to the ongoing status tracking
report. |
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| Fleet Mgmt | 11b) | b) Improve training for store keepers. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Management agrees with the recommendation, however it disagrees that it can be implemented within existing resources. Training is required in order to maximize the efficiencies of SAP and improve training in other areas of concern to Fleet Services. Approval is required for an additional $100K in the 2008 Operating Budget in order to allow Materials Management to complete this training by January 2009. |
Supply
Management Comment:
A very preliminary analysis of the costs involved in implementing these three recommendations is $340K, which will be requested in the 2008 budget, subject to the CAWG accepting the management response. |
Management and the AG agree that additional resources will be required. However, prior to requesting additional resources, management has made a commitment to advance the review of the Fleet Services branch, as part of the Branch Process Review Program. Any savings identified through this process will be used to fund activities related to implementing the Auditor General’s recommendations. The BPRP review will take place by Q3 2008. This recommendation has been moved to the ongoing status tracking report. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 11c) | c) Measure waiting times at the counter and set targets acceptable to Fleet. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Management agrees with the recommendation, however it disagrees that it can be implemented within existing resources. Materials Management will request approval for one-time Capital Budget funding of $60K in order to purchase an electronic queuing system and an on-going Operating Budget increase of $7K is required to cover the life cycle costs for the continued use of the system. It will be completed six (6) months after the receipt of the 2008 budget approval. |
Supply
Management Comment:
A very preliminary analysis of the costs involved in implementing these three recommendations is $340K, which will be requested in the 2008 budget, subject to the CAWG accepting the management response. |
Management and the AG agree that additional resources will be required. However, prior to requesting additional resources, management has made a commitment to advance the review of the Fleet Services branch, as part of the Branch Process Review Program. Any savings identified through this process will be used to fund activities related to implementing the Auditor General’s recommendations. The BPRP review will take place by Q3 2008. This recommendation has been moved to the ongoing status tracking report. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 12a) | That
Fleet Services: a) Ensure that vehicle log books are used especially for light passenger vehicles and perform random audits to determine how often the vehicle is required. Kilometres may not always represent a good indicator to validate whether a vehicle is justified or not. Unjustifiable vehicles should be reported to Council. |
Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Logbooks are a client responsibility. Fleet Services reports usage whereas the client determines the justification. |
Briefing Note will be required. | The AG and City Manager agree that log books are required for light passenger vehicles. Employee Services to write a policy stipulating this in conjunction with the Personal Use of City Automobiles. The final procedures will be sent to the AG once finalized. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 12d) | d) Establish vehicle standards per types of task and discourage derogations from the low cost standards by requiring approval from upper management or Committee of Council. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Fleet Services uses best practices by developing vehicle specifications based on operational requirements of the client department. The client department is responsible to determine the capability requirement and Fleet Services is responsible to prepare a specification to meet that requirement in a cost effective manner. The standard specification is for a base model in each category. Options are added depending on specific application or as a result of departmental request with justification and authorization. Options not supported by Fleet Services are escalated to the Executive Management Team, and if necessary Council for approval. |
Briefing Note will be required. | The AG agrees with the process. Fleet to make sure this is reflected in the SLA and that the procurement process is working this way. Fleet to send the revised SLA to the AG. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 17 | That Materials Management consolidate and repatriate all parts, new, used and remanufactured, within official inventory | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Management agrees with the recommendation, however it disagrees that it can be implemented within existing resources. Materials Management believes that the used and remanufactured material currently residing outside their span of control should be moved from Fleet Services control into a secure environment and recorded in the SAP system. The opportunity to create a secure and effective storage area will present itself with the opening of the Swansea Rebuild area under the Fleet Capacity Optimization project. Three (3) new staff positions at a cost of $183K were approved in the 2007 Operating Budget. Additional funding requests of $140K are planned for 2008 for racking and equipment to create a clean, safe and controlled storage environment. Materials Management will assume control and movement of the materials in 2007, where appropriate, following a risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Full and secure control of the appropriate stock will occur by the end of 2008 following budget approval. |
Supply
Management Comment:
Management plans to bring all appropriate stock into inventory by Q4 2008. Approved increases in staff are currently underway with training to be completed in Q4 2007. By Q1/Q2 2008 necessary internal storage space within St. Laurent South will become available once Fleet vacates the area which is currently occupied by a group moving to Swansea under the Fleet Capacity Optimization Project. Approximately $140K will be sought in the 2008 Capital Budget to cover the installation of racks and shelving and the creation of a secure area. In 2008 staff will commence identifying all new, used and remanufactured parts and complete movement and inventorying of all remaining outstanding materials in the secured area. |
Management and the AG agree that additional resources will be required. However, prior to requesting additional resources, management has made a commitment to advance the review of the Fleet Services Branch, as part of the Branch Process Review Program. Any savings identified through this process will be used to fund activities related to implementing the Auditor General’s recommendations. The BPRP review will take place by Q3 2008. This recommendation has been moved to the ongoing status tracking report. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 24 | That Fleet Services redirect resources to planned repairs/routine maintenance and review its procedures pertaining to circle checks and routine maintenance to ensure that the individuals responsible for performing said operations are properly versed with their responsibilities and make use of the training programs available. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation.
Clear accountabilities already exist for operators for inspection and repair and they are documented and incorporated in training programs. No further action needs to be taken on this issue. |
Briefing Note will be required. | The City Manager and AG
agree that operators are required to conduct circle checks. Supervisors are responsible to monitor
operators to ensure the circle checks are being conducted. The Director of Fleet Services is
responsible for providing training to operators and supervisors on their
responsibilities for circle checks.
This is being done, and has been done since amalgamation. Director of
Surface Operations to provide a plan on how this is going to be achieved.
This recommendation is closed. |
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| Fleet Mgmt | 25 | That the St. Laurent shop be cleaned up. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Cleanliness in the garage is not the issue; however, the crowded work-space does contribute to the untidiness of the garage. Daily shop maintenance routines performed by Transit Fleet maintenance staff include cleaning their work areas during and upon completion of each bus repair. Area cleaning is also done by Transit Fleet maintenance staff on an as-needed basis and equipment cleaning and maintenance is done on a scheduled basis by RPAM. The St. Laurent garages are well utilized and although crowding of buses and components is a challenge to work around, cleanliness is a priority. Crowding of most areas will be significantly reduced by the end of 2007 when the major repair operation moves to another garage, thereby providing additional storage space for components and cores presently stored in these bays. There will be an opportunity to improve the "area" cleaning component at that time, and action will be taken following this move. |
Briefing Note will be required. | The AG is satisfied with the management response. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 30 | That
Fleet Services educate all mechanics and operators regarding their
responsibility as it relates to the loss/ suspension of G licenses. Operator education must be strengthened in
the following areas: - operating a vehicle without a valid license; - Consequences for violating the code of conduct are severe when compared to reporting a temporary loss of license; - Liability of operating a city vehicle without a proper license relating to personal liability. |
Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Fleet Services does not have the authority for providing this type of education. Employee orientation at hire, which is the responsibility of the supervisor, is the appropriate place to both review the code of conduct (which is given to each new hire) and all other related issues (including discipline) specific to the job the employee is being hired into. |
Briefing Note will be required. | The City Manager and the AG agree that the Director of Fleet is to send out a yearly email that reminds managers that they are responsible to ensure that all employees hold the appropriate licenses. Also to incorporate this into the training that operators have a responsibility to inform their manager when they have lost their license. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Fleet Mgmt | 33 | That the management members of the unions be bargained out of the existing collective bargaining unit and into a separate unit when the contract is renegotiated in the future. | Management
does not agree with the recommendation. The Transit Fleet garage supervisors belong to a CUPE local and the staff they supervise belong to an ATU local, therefore a conflict does not exist since supervisory staff are in a different Union. The best-case scenario occurs when any level of supervisory staff is either non-union or from a bargaining unit different than the bargaining unit to which staff belong. Arbitral jurisprudence allows functional supervisors to be from within the same bargaining unit. Functional supervision can include scheduling and assigning work, as it does in this case. These are not true management responsibilities. The management staff from the MPE group or the garage supervisor’s bargaining unit is responsible for the management of disciplinary issues. |
Briefing Note will be required. | This recommendation has been withdrawn by the AG. | ||||
| Financial Control Env. | 3 | That Financial Services Branch in conjunction with Employee Services Branch ensure that detailed task and job descriptions are developed as part of process documentation in order to provide a basis for training and reference for finance employees. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. The City’s current practice is to develop job descriptions that reflect the skills, knowledge, professional qualifications and experience requirements of the positions, and to list the major duties of the position. This is of value to the City with respect to multi-incumbent positions where only one generic job description is needed. Financial Services will instead improve the detailed process descriptions. |
No update at this time. | City Manager to follow-up with the City Treasurer. This recommendation will be discussed at the next meeting between the AG and the City Manager. | ||||
| Financial Control Env. | 4b) | That Financial Services Branch identifies an appropriate number of positions that require an accounting designation. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. Management believes that Financial Services already has an appropriate number of staff with accounting designations in the Financial Service units and the Accounting and Reporting division. Within these divisions, there are currently 18 professional accountants out of a total of 62 positions, almost a 1:3 ratio. All positions in Financial Services were reviewed with respect to the requirement for a professional designation following amalgamation. The branch will continue to determine the skills and abilities required of its staff, including the requirement for an accounting designation, as new positions are created and job requirements change to meet emerging needs. Management feels that it is more appropriate to look at the number of professional accountants within CIPP and the management groups within the FSU and Accounting and Reporting divisions of Financial Services. |
In
process. May have L/R implications. |
Review the organizational structure at the Manager and Program Manager level to ensure that they hold an accounting designation. City Manager to follow-up with the City Treasurer. This recommendation will be discussed at the next meeting between the AG and the City Manager. | ||||
| Financial Control Env. | 10 | That Financial Services Branch in conjunction with Information Technology Services Branch review systems design to implement controls to disallow overriding prices, processing of duplicates, drawing and taking greater than set sick leave allowance, etc., and that reviews be conducted on a regular basis to confirm that any override capabilities deemed necessary are appropriate and approved. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. There are operational requirements that require overrides of the standard processes. Management understands there are additional risks associated with such overrides, but there are compensating controls to mitigate such risks. For example, in order to release contract holdbacks, the system requires that the authorizing document be amended. There is no way to release holdbacks without this override ability. The compensating controls are that the ability to amend the document is limited to the supervisor of Accounts Payable and that every override has to be documented. The system generates a report for review by management of all overrides so that they can be checked against the list maintained by the A/P supervisor. |
Preliminary analysis to commence in Q1, 2008. This is a huge undertaking which crosses functional lines. Need to decide between Financial control vs. responsibility of process owners. |
City Manager to follow-up with the City Treasurer. This recommendation will be discussed at the next meeting between the AG and the City Manager. | ||||
| These types of compensating controls exist for all system
overrides. Specific management comments regarding the audit findings are as
follows: a. SAP override - No such functionality exists in SAP. CLASS is a stand-alone program that is linked to SAP via an interface file. Pricing information does not exist within SAP and thus price overrides are not possible. b. Duplicate invoice payments - See management response in Section 5.3.1. c. Cheque printing – See management responses in Sections 5.3.5/5.3.6 d. Sick days – See management response in Section 5.4.5 e. Annual leave - See management response in Section 5.4.8 f. Pay rates - See management response in Section 5.4.5 |
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| Financial Control Env. | 16b) | That Financial Services Branch in conjunction with Parks and Recreation Branch and Information Technology Services Branch review the CLASS system design to disallow refunds past the program end date. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. The technology is not available in the CLASS system to customize the program registration module in this way. There is a system limitation that does not allow the automated prevention of refunds after 50% of the program has elapsed. In the registration module, each registration session (spring, summer, fall, winter) must be marked “completed” before refunds can no longer be processed. With thousands of programs each session with different start and end dates, this is a back-end function completed by the CLASS Support team and is set at 30 days after the end of each session. This window of opportunity is necessary for staff to perform a final clean-up of accounts as a result of cancelled classes, etc. |
* The system automatically stops refunds for
memberships from being processed after 50% of the program has elapsed for
registrations. There is no system
default for registrations or POS sales.
* Parks & Recreation branch has implemented a process to close all course registrations 30 days after the end of each registration session. For example, the last course in the spring session ends June 30th. All spring programs are closed on July 31st, at which time no refunds can be processed in CLASS following that date. All refunds after that date must go to the FSU. * In 2006 the FSU processed 1,228 cheque refunds totalling $164,000. The FSU processes all cheque refunds from CLASS. Staff process credit card refunds in CLASS up to the date the registration session is closed. |
This recommendation will be dealt with in the Parks and Recreation Financial Control Audit. This recommendation is closed. | ||||
| Financial Control Env. | 19 | That
Financial Services Branch in conjunction with Information Technology Services
Branch review the system design to include controls that do not permit entry
of duplicates, as well as, reports that identify possible duplicate entry. That Financial Services Branch establish more stringent review by FSUs, and greater follow-up by Accounts Payable to prevent duplicate payments. In addition, a program of on-going review designed to identify duplicate invoice processing would also reduce the risk of duplicate payments or serve as a mechanism for cash recovery. A comprehensive approach would serve to prevent duplicate entries, reduce duplicate payments, and increase the prospect for cash recovery in the event of a duplicate payment. That Financial Services Branch recover duplicate payment totalling $9,064 and the overpayment of $750 (see 5.6.2), identified in this audit. |
Management
disagrees with this recommendation. Management is of the opinion that internal controls to prevent the processing of duplicate supplier invoices are already appropriate to manage the risk of such errors in a cost effective manner. The error rate of this review was a small fraction of 1%. However, as a precautionary measure, Financial Services is assessing the value of using Audit Control Language as a detective tool to identify any duplicated payments and will be completing a review of the accounts payable process by the end of Q4 2007. Financial Services has recovered all the duplicate payments identified in the recommendation. |
•
Ongoing compliance review and A/P follow-up is already in place • System review will commence in Q1 of 2008. • See also System overrides in 10(b). |
Recommendation 19,21,22 and 26 will be addressed in the FMIS Project. The City Treasurer to provide a full briefing to the CAWG at the next meeting on the status of the implementation of the Financial Controls Audit . These recommendations will be moved to the ongoing status tracking. | ||||
| Financial Control Env. | 21 | That Financial Services Branch establish a practice requiring all goods based invoices be signed off by the client department as evidence of receipt of goods. If the invoice is not signed, that the Accounts Payable staff return the invoice to the FSU for approval on a timely basis. | Management disagrees with this
recommendation. The current process requires that vendor invoices be routed directly to Central Accounts Payable, where staff relies on the controls embedded in SAP to process the payments for goods-based invoices. Service-based invoices are re-routed to the FSU for the client’s approval and sign-off. It is also important to distinguish between inventory goods and non-inventory goods receipts. For inventory goods, a goods receipt entry is processed at the inventory location on the basis of a packing slip. The packing slip is retained at the receiving site. Compensating controls include an automated inventory management system and physical inventory counts. For non-inventory goods, the goods receipt is entered by the client or the FSU on the basis of a packing slip, if one is available, otherwise, an invoice is used for that purpose. The packing slip is retained at the receiving site. |
Note: Sign-off by Client Department will not reduce the perceived risk. | City Manager to follow-up with the City Treasurer. This recommendation will be discussed at the next meeting between the AG and the City Manager. | ||||
| The above processes leverage the best practices embedded in SAP, including the three way match between the purchase order, goods receipts, and vendor invoice. Management’s preference is to have all goods receipts issued on the basis of packing slips and to continue routing all vendor invoices to Central Accounts Payable. This will minimize the number of lost or misplaced invoices and reduce the likelihood of late payment fees. | |||||||||
| Financial Control Env. | 22 | That Financial Services Branch in conjunction with Information Technology Services Branch review the Corporate Financial Management System (SAP) design and configuration to disallow changes to the status of the transaction by anyone that is capable of processing invoices payments. | Management
disagrees with this recommendation. There are a number of valid reasons for allowing or requiring changes to the status of accounts payable documents. These include the release of holdback and changes to the method of payment. Based upon a review of the findings, management has determined that the incident reported by the Auditor was caused by an error of omission. Financial Services staff at one of the City’s locations was improperly removing the system-generated payment blocks. Further investigation revealed that this was a gap in process training. Management has corrected this oversight. There are compensating controls to detect the inappropriate removal of payments blocks and this report will now be reviewed on a regular basis. |
Substantially
complete • Operating department has been directed to change the current practice • Documentation to follow • FSB needs the flexibility for error correction and for releasing holdbacks |
City Manager to follow-up with the City Treasurer. This recommendation will be discussed at the next meeting between the AG and the City Manager. | ||||
| Financial Control Env. | 26 | That Financial Services Branch establish a procedure requiring two signatures on all cheque requisitions and that reconciliations be maintained by someone other than the individuals who orders and receives the cheques. | Management disagrees with this
recommendation. Management believes that there are already sufficient manual controls in place. Part of the control processes include that the City’s supplier of cheques verify the person and organization placing the order and ensure continuity and completeness with respect to document number sequence. As well, incoming cheque stock orders are delivered to shipping and receiving where they are verified against the accompanying packing slip. The packing slip is initialled by the receiver and delivered with the cheques to the print shop coordinator who passes them to the senior supervisor for final verification and safe storage. It should also be noted that the cheque stock, as is the case for any type of secure document, are produced under tight controls by the paper manufactures. |
Ongoing • Management has documented the control process and has provided this to the AG. |
City Manager to follow-up with the City Treasurer. This recommendation will be discussed at the next meeting between the AG and the City Manager. | ||||
| As part of the continuous improvement process, management will explore the possibility of assigning the ordering function to an individual other than the supervisor. Corporate Security also reviewed the procedures when the print shop started to print Employment and Financial Assistance cheques. | |||||||||
| Financial Control Env. | 30 | That Employee Services Branch require that supervisors ensure there is an Incumbent Report for the staff directly reporting to them and review these for any errors, incorrect data entered or unauthorized employees or changes to employees pay grade or level. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. The role of Employee Services is to ensure that human resource reports are available to managers and to provide training on the use of these reports. Employee Services does not control whether managers use these reports. Managers are responsible for managing their staff, which includes reviewing human resource reports on a regular basis. The Position Incumbent Report is available at all times in SAP to managers, their administrative assistants, and to supervisors of 15 or more direct reports as per the SAP licensing model approved during the IBS Project. Managers can also access their Position Incumbent Report via the City’s intranet without using SAP. |
The AG and the City Manager agreed that ES would send out a management bulletin would be sent out to all managers/supervisors. The bulletin would communicate that as an important aspect of the management control framework, managers/supervisors are responsible on a quarterly basis to review the Position Incumbent Report and report any inaccuracies. This report is available through the self-service management tools, however, managers can ask for support from ES if necessary. The Deputy City Treasurer is responsible for providing a quarterly report to the City Manager that highlights which managers/supervisors are not reviewing this report. This recommendation is closed. | |||||
| Financial Control Env. | 31 b) | That
Employee Services Branch require that Display Changes to Employee Pay
Information Report can be generated and reviewed by : a) Payroll Analysts, and b) Supervisors. |
(b)
Management does not agree with this recommendation. Regarding the supervisors, presently there are already many controls in place to ensure changes to employees pay are complete and accurate. These include: written authorization by the manager for pay rate changes, payroll audits, management reports such as the Position Incumbent Report and Cost Center Report that identifies charges against the manager’s budget. |
The AG agrees with this response. This recommendation is now closed. | |||||
| Financial Control Env. | 32 a) | That Information Technology Services Branch in conjunction with Employee Services Branch identify all significant system overrides and these be eliminated. That in the rare occasion when overrides are deemed necessary, that they are restricted to a limited number of users. At a minimum, create detective controls that would prevent errors from flowing through the financial data. | Management does
not agree with this recommendation.
Management believes that is not necessary to eliminate overrides as the Payroll division already has controls in place to ensure that all pay rate changes including pay overrides are in accordance with management’s authorization. For example, the salary scales in the ATU 1760 contract have only a minimum and maximum salary. In some unions, employees have red-circled rates of pay as allowed under collective agreement provisions. In both these situations it is incumbent for the Payroll division to manually update the system with the appropriate pay rate. With respect to economic increases, where overrides are required, an independent verification of the override is performed by a second Payroll Analyst to ensure compliance with collective agreement provisions. Payroll currently performs many audits to capture system changes including overrides. |
The AG will review this recommendation in more detail during the Payroll audit. This recommendation is now closed. | |||||
| Financial Control Env. | 32 b) | That Information Technology Services Branch in conjunction with Employee Services Branch review the Corporate Financial Management System (SAP) design and configuration to assess the viability of restricting uncertified sick leave days in excess of allowable limits. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. Currently, all managers have access to an SAP-generated report that provides accumulative sick leave information. Once staff has reached their sick leave limit, based on their collective agreement requirements, it is the responsibility of all managers to ensure that staff are providing a doctor’s certificate within the required timelines. The Payroll division will work with ITS to determine the viability of building the system to meet this requirement based on the rules of the various collective agreements in the 2008 workplan. The delay in exploring this initiative is because Employee Services is concentrating on the overtime initiatives from the 2006 Deloitte Branch-by-Branch Overtime Review. As in interim measure, Employee Services will immediately send out a communiqué to all management reminding them of the sick leave requirements. |
The
AG will review this is more detail during the Payroll audit. A management bulletin regarding monitoring of sick leave is being developed and will be sent shortly. This recommendation is now closed. |
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| 35 a) | That Information Technology Services Branch in conjunction with Employee Services Branch review the Corporate Financial Management System (SAP) design/configuration and restrict annual leave carry-over in excess of employees’ yearly entitlement. | Management
does not agree with this recommendation. The various collective agreements allow for carry forward of more than one year’s entitlement, therefore it is not recommended that the SAP system be redesigned to restrict this carry over. Management already has access to SAP-generated reports to monitor excess vacation leave. |
• Employee Services is
preparing the following: - a memo to the City Manager and Deputy City Managers which encourages directors and managers to continually monitor their staffs' leave balances, and develop a plan to address all vacation leave excesses within the corporation; - a summary listing of the impact of excess vacation days by department and branch; - a management bulletin to be sent that refers to the above-mentioned plan; and a sample letter to be used by the manager with affected employees to initiate development of individual plans by 15 September 2007. |
Employee Services will be adding this initiative to their 2008 workplan. The recommendation will be discussed between the AG and City Manager at the next meeting. | |||||
| Financial Control Env. | 35 b) | That Employee Services Branch address the increasing balance of annual leave in excess of employees' entitlement by requiring employees carrying excess leave to identify the period in which they will take the excess leave (in addition to their yearly entitlement) or have the excess leave balance paid out before the end of the 2007 calendar year. | (b) Management
does not agree with this recommendation. The issue of financial liability regarding vacation leave balances was already brought to the attention of Council in the 2005 management letter from the City's external financial Auditors and was discussed at Corporate Services Economic Development Committee February 6, of 2007. The audit identified that City staff are carrying forward a significant amount of unused vacation leave, which results in a considerable financial liability for the City. At any time this liability includes: * Accumulated vacation credits for employees in the current year as per the terms and conditions of employment and collective agreements |
• In Process Lists with employee information by department and branch will be ready for distribution before the end of June 2007. These listings will be prepared and reviewed annually by Employee Services and provided to Departments before the end of the second quarter of the year. |
The AG and the City Manger agree
with the following management response.
The City has developed an
approach to reduce the vacation carryover balance. Senior management have been
provided with details of employees in their respective areas that have
carried over vacation in excess of their annual allotment. Managers are asked
to work with affected staff to develop a plan to liquidate any excess
vacation leave. A Management Bulletin was also distributed reminding managers
of their responsibility to monitor their staff's vacation leave usage. Financial Services has developed and initiated a plan to limit the impact of paying out the unfunded employee liabilities over time. This was presented to the Long Range Financial Planning Committee. The plan places priority on the order in which the various benefits should be addressed and provides strategies to limit the growth of these liabilities. The unfunded vacation leave liability was identified as the first priority and a strategy to be fully funded within the next 6 to 10 years was identified. Although, the excess leave banks could be paid out, it would produce a deficit for the City. However, the City Manager and the Executive Management Committee will be discussing the feasibility of paying out excess vacation leave banks in the New Year. This recommendation is closed. |
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| * Carry-forward of vacation credits by
employees from prior years in keeping with the terms and conditions of
employment and collective agreements * Additional vacation credits from prior years carried forward in excess of the above The City policy accommodates the first two components of this liability. The third component is addressed in the collective agreements which allows for excess carry forward of unused vacation leave beyond the regular entitlement under exceptional circumstances provided that appropriate approvals are obtained. Furthermore, the leave balances of some members of the management group include a large amount of excess carry forward of unused vacation leave that were primarily brought forward to the new City at amalgamation from positions held in the former municipalities. Furthermore, the leave balances of some members of the management group include a large amount of excess carry forward of unused vacation leave that were primarily brought forward to the new City at amalgamation from positions held in the former municipalities. |
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| 35 b) | Since
the audit, staff have conducted a detailed analysis of outstanding vacation
leave banks for all City staff. Staff will be reporting back to Committee and
Council by the end of Q2 2007 on a plan to eliminate the outstanding
liability associated with the excess carry over of vacation credits. Management will also be reminded through a communiqué that they are responsible to monitor staff vacation, encourage staff to take vacation, and ensure that a letter of approval is submitted to the employee’s file if vacation leave is in excess of entitlement. |
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| Financial Control Env. | 36 | That Employee Services Branch require that Supervisors review Payroll Cost Center reports. | Management does
not agree with this recommendation. Employee Services has made Payroll Cost Center Reports available to managers, program managers, and supervisors with more than 15 direct reports. Employee Services also provides SAP-HR manager and refresher training sessions to instruct users on the uses of this report, and encourages them to review their reports regularly. The Financial Services branch also works with managers on an ongoing basis to review cost center charges and identify anomalies. The City’s accountability framework for managers stipulates that human resource and financial management is the responsibility of the operating manager. In addition to the Payroll Cost Center Report, managers have access to financial cost center reports that provide a comprehensive picture of the manager’s entire budget. |
n/a | ES to send out a bulletin to managers and supervisors to remind them to review the Payroll Cost Center report as part of their management accountability to manage resources, and that they need to ensure that staff are being charged to the right cost centres. FSU should help with ensuring the staff are charged to the correct cost centres. This recommendation is closed. | ||||