Tabling of the 2005-2006 Departmental Performance Reports

Earlier this week, Treasury Board President John Baird tabled in Parliament the 2005-2006 departmental performance reports for 88 federal departments and agencies.

The report for the Supreme Court of Canada is among the list.

Every year, federal departments and agencies publish Reports on Plans and Priorities outlining their strategic goals. At the end of the fiscal year, Departmental Performance Reports look back on actual accomplishments and expenditures, to assess how well the agencies performed as measured against the objectives that were set out in the Report on Plans and Priorities.

This is all part of the so-called Estimates process that begins with the annual federal budget each spring. Based on the budget, the Government then develops its Estimates.

Estimates come in three parts.

Part I, the Government Expense Plan, provides an overview of federal spending.

Part II, the Main Estimates, identifies the spending authorities (votes) and amounts to be included in the appropriation bills. Parliament will be asked to approve these votes to enable the government to proceed with its spending plans for the coming year.

Part III is composed of two parts – Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports.

Earlier Library Boy posts about government accountability resources include:

• Tabling of the 2004-2005 Government of Canada Departmental Performance Reports (October 31, 2005): "Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, tabled the 2004-05 Departmental Performance Reports (or DPRs) for 90 Government of Canada departments and agencies in the House of Commons today."
• Government Accountability Resources (August 28, 2006): "In yesterday's post Government of Canada Information Management Conference I wrote that one of the presentations at the upcoming IM - Taking Care of Business conference in Ottawa on October 2-3, 2006 would be about the experience of the United States Government Accountability Office or GAO. The GAO is in charge of independently auditing all U.S. federal government agencies. That got me thinking about the kinds of performance and accountability reporting requirements different governments have."
• Canadian Government Audit and Evaluation Reports (September 5, 2006): "(...)Treasury Board Secretariat maintains an Audit and Evaluation Database that includes departmental and government performance reports as well as other audits of government activities. 'Several hundred records of findings are added to the database each year, including information from evaluations, audits, manager-led reviews, self- assessments and continuous performance measurement systems. This information is always being updated'."
• List of All Federal Reports To Parliament (September 21, 2006): "In a few earlier Library Boy posts, I described some of the reports that examine, audit and help control the operations of the Canadian government: (...) The parliamentary website features the complete List of Reports and Returns that government departments must table in the House of Commons."
• Federal Reports on Plans and Priorities Tabled in House of Commons (September 26, 2006): "The Honourable John Baird, President of the Treasury Board, today tabled the 2006-2007 Reports on Plans and Priorities (RPP) in the House of Commons. These documents contain details on projects and expenditure plans for dozens of federal government departments and agencies."