NLIS 1
January 31, 2006
(Office of the Auditor General)
Auditor General releases
Report to the House of Assembly on
Reviews of Departments and Crown Agencies for the Year Ended 31 March
2005
John L. Noseworthy, C.A., Auditor
General, today released his Report to the House of Assembly on Reviews
of Departments and Crown Agencies for the Year Ended 31 March 2005.
The report contains approximately 560
pages of conclusions, commentary, recommendations and auditees�
comments. The report outlines the reflections of the Auditor General,
the results of reviews of Government departments and Crown agencies, and
information relating to monitoring of prior years� recommendations.
Mr. Noseworthy highlights many specific
areas, including:
- Inconsistent compensation practices
among Government entities with many of the inconsistencies relating
to the more senior officials at the entities. Through Mr.
Noseworthy�s discussions with many senior officials at Government
entities, he gets the sense that many senior officials feel
justified in their actions and have an attitude that if the other
board can do it, then so can they. In Mr. Noseworthy�s opinion the
inconsistent compensation practices continue because there is no
consequence of doing so.
- Concerns with financial and
administrative practices at the Central West Health Corporation, the
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and Memorial University of
Newfoundland.
- Concern that poor management
practices at the Department of Health and Community Services are not
ensuring that costs of the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription
Drug Program are minimized.
- Contrary to its policy, the
Department of Education is using secondments to fill positions on a
long-term basis. The Department contravened the spirit and intent of
Government�s Merit Principle by hiring 19 of 32 secondments without
a job competition and also promoted some seconded employees to
management positions without a job competition.
- Concerns with how the Municipal
Assessment Agency assesses property values as well as with Agency
expenditures.
- Concerns with how personal care
homes are licensed, monitored and inspected. The Department of
Health and Community Services does not adequately determine whether
the regional health and community services boards are complying with
legislation and Department policies relating to personal care homes.
- Newfoundland and Labrador is the
only Atlantic Province without Province-wide coverage for land-based
911 emergency response services. Currently, only 40% of the
Province�s population and less than 10% of communities on the island
portion of the Province have access to this 911 service and there is
no land-based 911 service in Labrador.
- Improvements are required by the
Department of Environment and Conservation in registering and
inspecting petroleum storage systems, and in enforcing compliance
with environmental legislation. Without adequate systems and
processes, the risk of environmental damage from petroleum fuel
spills is increased.
- While the Department of Human
Resources, Labour and Employment has instituted a number of useful
measures to monitor the Income Support Program, these measures are
not being employed as effectively or thoroughly as they should be.
- Although Government received
approximately $350 million in 1997 to operate the Labrador ferry
service in perpetuity, the Labrador Transportation Initiative Fund,
after only 9 years, is expected to be depleted in 2007. After 2007,
Government will have to fund the operations of the Labrador ferry
service through its budgetary process - estimated at a net cost of
approximately $18 million per year.
- Issues relating to Government�s
investment in Icewater Seafoods Inc. and in a manufacturing company.
- Government is not efficiently
managing its vacant/surplus properties which, at 31 March 2005, were
comprised of 62 buildings within 27 sites. Government has no
long-term strategy for the disposal or alternate use of
vacant/surplus properties and, as a result, they continue to
deteriorate while the Department of Transportation and Works incurs
ongoing operational costs and increasing environmental remediation
costs.
Mr. Noseworthy�s report is available on
the Office of the Auditor General Web site at
//www.gov.nl.ca/ag/reports.htm
Media contact: John L. Noseworthy, C.A.,
Auditor General, (709) 729-2700
2006 01 31
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