Good progress made to implement Auditor General recommendations

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada…  Auditor General Doug Wylie issued a report highlighting the implementation of 13 previous recommendations and only repeats one recommendation to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee where more work is required to improve and follow policies and procedures.

“I am very pleased to report that management of the four organizations we audited have implemented 13 of our previous recommendations,” said Wylie. “The results of this work are improved processes, procedures and internal controls that will ultimately benefit Albertans who rely on them for services and support.”

The following four Assessment of Implementation reports are summarized below:

Alberta Energy Regulator
An Examination of the International Centre of Regulatory Excellence

The Auditor General completed his assessment of implementation work resulting from the October 2019 examination of the International Centre of Regulatory Excellence (ICORE) recommendations and found that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) implemented the four recommendations:

• AER Board to improve its oversight processes
• Perform sufficient due diligence to assess the risk of further waste of public resources not already identified in context of ICORE
• Evaluate whether additional funds expended on ICORE activities are recoverable
• AER staff are made aware of, and are sufficiently trained on, AER’s whistleblowing process, consistent with Section 6 of Alberta’s Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services

Systems to Manage the Delivery of Addiction and Mental-Health Services

The Auditor General completed his assessment of implementation work resulting from the 2015 audit of Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services’ Systems to Manage the Delivery of Mental-Health Services and found that the four recommendations have been implemented:

• Use action plan and progress reporting to implement strategy (Alberta Health)
• Integrate mental-health service delivery and eliminate gaps in service (Alberta Health Services)
• Improve information management in mental health and addictions (Alberta Health Services)
• Complete assessment and develop waitlist for Albertans who need community housing supports (Alberta Health Services)

Alberta Justice and Solicitor General

Control Systems at the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee

The Auditor General completed his assessment of implementation work resulting from the February 2013 audit of Alberta Justice and Solicitor General’s Control Systems at the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee and found that four of five recommendations have been implemented:

• Improve supervisory review of client files
• Strengthen the role of internal audit (now Divisional Assurance)
• Strengthen approval and payment processes for payments from client trust accounts
• Improve processes to ensure client files are appropriately documented

REPEATED Recommendation: Improve and follow policies and procedures

We recommend that the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee:

• review and assess whether its policies are appropriate, and procedures are adequate to mitigate the risk that client assets could be mismanaged
• improve its processes for ensuring compliance with policies and procedures

Alberta Labour and Immigration

Systems to Update Alberta’s Workforce Strategies

The Auditor General completed his assessment of implementation work resulting from the 2018 audit of Alberta Labour and Immigration’s Systems to Update Alberta’s Workforce Strategies and found that the report on results of workforce strategies recommendation has been implemented.

The Assessment of Implementation Report was tabled in the Alberta Legislature on March 22, 2022 and is available at www.oag.ab.ca.

Appointed under Alberta’s Auditor General Act, the Auditor General is the legislated auditor of every provincial ministry, department, public post-secondary institution, and most provincial agencies, boards, commissions, and regulated funds. The audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General report on how government is managing its responsibilities and the province’s resources. Through our audit reports, we provide independent assurance to the 87 Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and the people of Alberta, that public money is spent properly and provides value.

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For more information, please contact:

Cheryl Schneider, Acting Executive Director, Stakeholder Engagement
Telephone: 780.422.8375 | Mobile: 780.399.0554 | Email:  cschneider@oag.ab.ca

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