Supplementary Internal Services Results - DPR - 2013-14

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Supplementary Internal Services Results

Governance and Management Support

Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

Governance and Management Support represents a grouping of Internal Services activities.

  • Management and Oversight Services

Audit and Evaluation

During FY 2013-14, the DND/CAF Internal Audit group completed 100% of its risk-based Audit Plan and will continue to focus on the delivery of audit assurance services which consider the risk profile and control environment of the DND/CAF.

The DND/CF Evaluation group conducted 16.6% of Defence Program Spending coverage during FY 2013-14 for a total of 100% of planned reports and will continue to carry out the requirements of the 2009 Treasury Board Policy on Evaluation in order to achieve 100% coverage of direct Defence spending over a five-year cycle.

For details, see Section III: Supplementary Information - Internal Audits and Evaluations.

Access to Information and Privacy

Access to Information: 2013-14 saw a continuing increase in Access to Information requests, a 9.15% increase from the previous reporting period. There was an increase in the number of requests completed as well as the average number of pages disclosed per request. 2,219 requests were completed resulting in a disclosure of records equivalent to more than 185,000 pages.

Privacy: In 2013-14, 5,558 requests were completed, resulting in a disclosure of records equivalent to more than 1.4 million pages. The percentage of files closed on time was 17.6% higher than in 2012-13.

Strategic Policy and Planning

In 2013-14, the Department continued to provide timely, effective policy advice on domestic and international defence issues to the senior Defence leadership and to the Government of Canada. The following Defence policy efforts were undertaken:

    • Progressed with the renewal of the Canada First Defence Strategy;
    • Supported Defence’s efforts as part of the Government of Canada action to better manage government spending;
    • Provided expert, forward-leaning policy advice on key ongoing and emerging defence issues, such as Canada-United States defence relations, Canada-NATO defence issues, space, cyber and Arctic security; and
    • Supported the whole-of-government engagement in national and international CAF operations.
  • Communications Services

    The Department continued to synchronize and coordinate communications opportunities to maximize effect in promoting the Defence priorities and to demonstrate DND/CAF’s role in the defence of Canada and Canadian interests at home and abroad.

    In FY 2013-14, Defence handled more than 3,100 media requests; issued more than 340 news releases and backgrounders; and connected with Canadians through a number of means including web, social media and outreach activities. Highlights of achievements in communications services provided by Defence public affairs (PA) included:

    • supporting more than 25 military operations domestically and internationally — ranging from the closeout of Canada's mission in Afghanistan, to disaster relief in Alberta and the Philippines, and drug interceptions in the Caribbean Basin and the Arabian Gulf region;
    • working with mental health experts and the chain of command to ensure CAF members and their families were aware of Defence’s health programs and services available to them. Strong efforts went towards reducing the stigma of mental illness using internal communications, web content, and multimedia activities;
    • encouraging renewal and transformation efforts in Defence; in particular, the launch of the Defence Renewal initiative in October 2013 which included internal and external communications, media and stakeholder briefings, and web content;
    • demonstrating the Government of Canada’s commitment to defence procurement by supporting announcements totalling more than $700 million on infrastructure and equipment investments, including the delivery of the new Chinook helicopters in 2013, and working with government partners for the launch of the Defence Procurement Strategy in February 2014;
    • harnessing new technology to leverage Defence communications; including national, regional and local Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, as well as launching a national Pinterest account. The Department also consolidated its external websites from 357 to one main site with 17 sub-sites, to ensure transparency and making Defence information more accessible to Canadians; and
    • coordinating commemoration activities honouring the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, and more than a decade of service in Afghanistan with outreach activities and the Afghanistan Memorial Vigil.
  • Legal Services

    A sound and fair military justice system is key to maintaining discipline within the profession of arms, providing justice for members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and maintaining public confidence in the system. During fiscal year 2013-14, Bill C-15, the Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, was given Royal Assent on June 19, 2013. The Bill was the government’s legislative response to a series of recommendations made in 2003 by the late Right Honourable Antonio Lamer, former Chief Justice of Canada, following his independent review of the amendments made in the National Defence Act by Bill C-25 in 1998 along with recommendations made in 2009 by the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.

    The amendments further enable the military justice system to fulfill its fundamental purposes of promoting operational effectiveness while doing justice for the men and women who serve.

    Among other amendments, the Bill:

    • Enhances the independence of military judges;
    • Provides for additional sentencing options, including absolute discharges, intermittent sentences and restitution orders, as well as the ability to submit victim impact statements at courts martial;
    • Improves the efficiency of the grievance and military complaints processes;
    • Establishes the position of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal in legislation and specifies the Provost Marshal’s responsibilities; and
    • Expands the pool of CAF members eligible to serve on a court martial panel.

For details, see the supporting documents for the Office of the Office of the Chief Military Judge and the Office of the Judge Advocate General on the Defence website.

The 2013-14 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) did not identify specific activities under this Program to attend to Defence’s organizational priorities.

Resource Management Services

Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

Resource Management Services represents a grouping of Internal Services activities.

  • Human Resources Management Services

    Efforts continued to maintain an agile civilian workforce in the context of a deficit reduction environment:

    • Work to research and define the optimal civilian workforce composition will be aligned with the military establishment study which is currently in progress.
    • The Department has carefully and prudently managed reductions to its civilian workforce through the use of attrition, alternation, vacancy management, as well as the prudent application of workforce adjustment processes as required. Going forward, Defence will continue to strengthen planning and alignment to business priorities and will maximize the use of flexibilities within the Public Service Employment Act and regulations.

Defence made significant strides to provide a consistent approach to client human resources service delivery while ensuring the necessary support is available for each operational area:

    • Realignment of Service Delivery model in support of Blueprint 2020;
    • Completion of Service Level Agreements and the preparation of Human Resources Business Manager organizations for transfer on April 1, 2014; and
    • Strengthened use of technology and self-service systems.

The next phase of Service Delivery 2015 (click-call-consult) leverages technology to implement self-service systems for employees and managers to minimize transaction time.

Defence continues to strive for a safe, fair workplace for its employees, leading to a productive workforce:

    • The new Classification Business Process was developed and is being implemented, including modern tools and procedures supporting increased use of collective work descriptions and simplified business practices; and
    • A comprehensive leadership development framework and toolkit has been developed in alignment with the new Government of Canada Performance Management Directive and will be promulgated in FY 2014-15.

Further details regarding Human Resources Management Services are reported under Program 1.2: Recruiting, and Initial Training of Personnel.

  • Information Management Services

Details regarding Information Management Services are reported under Internal Services.

The 2013-14 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) did not identify specific activities under this Program to attend to Defence’s organizational priorities.

Asset Management Services

Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

Asset Management Services represents a grouping of Internal Services activities.

  • Materiel

    Defence made progress towards meeting the following priority:

    Priority: Ensuring Defence Affordability

    Develop and implement initiatives to reduce capability delivery process complexity
    • A new initiative, the Project Approval Process Redesign Project (PAPR), was launched to further streamline the submission process and was incorporated into Defence Renewal. The PAPR Working Group will ensure compliance with TB policy while developing a process model that demonstrates the potential to save time for construction and equipment projects, while simultaneously increasing throughput.
    • To improve overall programme delivery, the Project Management Competency Development initiative completed the validation of a Project Manager workforce qualification framework en route to departmental institutionalization.

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