Recommendation No. 25 Capital plans
We recommend that the Ministry of Infrastructure continue to implement processes to ensure that capital plans from
ministries and client organizations contain information it requires to prepare its long-term strategic plans, as well as the Corporate Capital Overview.
Last year we recommended (2000—No. 26) the Ministry of Infrastructure obtain further information on the strategic service delivery options and forecasted needs of client ministries to assist in the development of long-term capital asset plans for owned and supported facilities.
The Ministry’s process improved
The Ministry has improved its processes for obtaining information on strategic delivery options and forecasted needs. Therefore, we have narrowed the recommendation to assist the Ministry to focus on its implementation.
The Ministry revised its capital manuals for health and school facilities
The Ministry revised its capital manuals for health and school facilities. The revised capital planning manual for health capital projects requires each health authority to submit a long-term capital plan each year. The manual contains detailed guidance on the required content, including the relationship to service delivery strategies. The revised school capital manual, currently in draft, requires completion of a ten-year and three-year plan. This capital manual also requires these plans to identify the long-range facility
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needs in support of the school board’s education and technology plans. In addition, the manual specifies the form and content of the plan.
The Ministry obtained long-term capital plans from client organizations
The Ministry obtained long-term capital plans from regional health authorities and school jurisdictions. Post-secondary educational institutions included their capital plans in the business plans they submitted to the Ministry of Learning. The Ministry of Learning gives the information relating to the institutions’ capital needs contained in the business plan to the Ministry.
The Ministry still needs to improve its process
The Ministry needs to improve its process in the following areas to ensure it receives the capital plans on a timely basis and is able to monitor them to ensure that it receives complete information.
• The Ministry needs to ensure all ministries submit their long-term capital plans. Currently, the Ministry does not require ministries to submit capital plans for their office
accommodation needs. However, it requires them to submit plans if they need facilities for program delivery. Not all ministries have submitted these plans. The Ministry told us that it meets regularly with other ministries to discuss their long-term requirements for facilities and uses this information to update its long-term capital plans. The Ministry also told us it is revising its capital manual to formalize the requirement for ministries to submit long-term capital plans.
• The Ministry needs to ensure the capital plans its receives from client organizations include all information specified in the capital manuals. During our review of the capital plans for school districts, we noted there were inconsistencies in the level and type of information supplied by these organizations.
For example, some of the school districts did not provide all the information required by the current capital manuals. The Ministry advised us it obtains the information it requires to supplement the plans.
• Post-secondary educational institutions need to submit more detailed campus development plans to the Ministry of
Learning. We understand that institutions are at various stages in the development of these plans. The Ministry of Learning is working with the institutions to improve the information it receives from these institutions.
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Infrastructure management systems
Systems development decisions
We recommend that the Ministries of Infrastructure and Transportation formalize the requirement for the preparation of a comprehensive business case analysis to support systems development decisions.
Last year we recommended (2000—No. 27) the Ministry of Infrastructure review the plans in place for the development of the Ministry’s infrastructure management systems and satisfy itself that the most cost-effective systems are being developed and that it has the resources necessary to successfully develop and implement the systems.
The Ministry’s process improved
We have narrowed our recommendation to assist the Ministry to focus on its implementation. The Ministry is in the process of implementing or enhancing several systems to enable it to comply with the government’s capital planning initiative (CPI) and ensure it has adequate information to manage its capital assets. The Ministry has improved its processes relating to the development of the infrastructure management systems.
Strategic plan prepared The Ministry has prepared a draft Information and Technology Management Strategic Plan. This plan identifies requirements for data, applications and technology to support the Ministry’s core businesses and the CPI.
Framework to manage and share core data established
The Ministry has prepared a framework, called Information and Technology Architecture, to manage core data and share it with other ministries and stakeholders. The framework also describes the major applications required to support the business functions and information needs of the Ministry.
Planning group established—the group prepares regular reports
The Ministry has established the Infrastructure Management Systems planning group (IMSPG). The purpose of the IMSPG is to ensure that the information management systems are developed in a manner that supports the CPI and the implementation of a common architecture. The IMSPG prepares regular status reports for the Deputy Minister and senior management. These status reports outline major milestones and planned dates for deliverables.
Strategic plan calls for preparing a business case
According to the draft Information and Technology Strategic Plan,
“a high-level business case will be developed for each potential change that is substantial enough to impact the IM/IT plan”. The plan suggests that the business case include the objectives of the proposed change, alternatives, costs of proposed changes and the
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affects of potential alternatives, risk analysis, financial analysis and recommended course of action.
Our discussion with management and review of the status reports noted above indicate that the systems being developed are on target to meet the 2003 deadline for the implementation of the
applications required to support the business processes.
The Ministry needs to establish its requirements for preparing business case analyses
We noted the Ministry has not established its requirements for preparing business case analyses required by the strategic plan. We believe the Ministry needs to ensure that significant systems development is supported by comprehensive business case analyses. The Ministry’s requirements for business case analyses need to include guidance for preparing detailed qualitative and cost-effectiveness analyses for projects over a certain dollar amount.
This will assist the Ministry in monitoring systems development and performing post implementation reviews.
The Ministry’s requirements for business case analyses should also include guidance for performing risk analysis, including
identification of the likelihood and impact of all risks,
consequences of each risk, and strategies to manage the identified risks.