2002/03 Annual Service Plan Report Ministry of Management Services

Year-at-a-Glance Highlights

A number of significant developments occurred within the Ministry of Management Services in 2002/03. Most notably, the Ministry fulfilled its core review commitment by making two key strategic shifts: moving from a multiple service provider approach to a single service provider model for the delivery of corporate support and transactional services; and moving from a combined governance/service delivery model to a separation of governance from service delivery for shared services. Achievements related to these strategic shifts, as well as other Ministry activities, are highlighted below.

• Planning for the implementation of a shared services organization was successfully completed. From September 2002 to March 2003, the transfer and consolidation of Payroll Services, IT desktop and helpdesk services, and the Corporate Accounting Service from their respective ministries to the Ministry of Management Services took place. The transfer of staff marked a major milestone towards the creation of a shared services organization.
• One of the key characteristics of the shared services approach is the creation of Service Level Agreements between the clients and the shared services organization. In 2002/03, an overarching Service Agreement was negotiated with client ministries. The Service Agreement establishes roles and responsibilities (including principles of service delivery) and defines the services to be provided.
• Streamlining processes and introducing enabling technology are two other key features of the shared services model. To this end:
• Payroll Services modernized the payroll process with the successful realignment of the pay period for government employees;
• In March 2003, Payroll Services also successfully launched the Employee Self-Service pilot. Employee Self-Service allows employees to view their pay advices, leave balances and personal information online;
• The new BC Bid http://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca/open.dll/welcome upgrade was launched in February 2003, enabling two-way electronic bidding — a major step towards a fully integrated and paperless procurement, payables and payment process. BC Bid is a one-stop window for suppliers to access public sector procurement opportunities. Over the last two years, BC Bid has seen a 56 per cent increase in posted opportunities and more than a 50 per cent increase in public sector buyers. On the first electronic tender posted, more than 50 per cent of responses from suppliers were electronic.
• iExpenses was implemented across government to process employee travel claims. In addition to improving the process for the creation, approval and payment of travel claims, iExpenses has improved reporting for individual and public accounting. Most employees who travel on a regular basis are now using iExpenses (over 22,000 government staff). It is expected that up to 125,000 travel claims will be processed annually using iExpenses.
• In 2002/03 all government print shops were consolidated under Queen's Printer management, resulting in increased efficiencies and more cost-effective delivery of print services for government.
• The Common IT Services (CITS) division implemented online access as one approach to streamlining and standardizing IT service requests and improving internal tracking.
• CITS also created new electronic forms that enabled government ministries to conduct 100,000 government transactions electronically rather than on paper.
• In support of separating governance from service delivery, in October 2002, procurement governance was transferred from the Ministry of Management Services to the Ministry of Finance, under the Office of the Comptroller General. This separation of governance from delivery allows the service deliverer to focus more effectively on the needs of the client.
• The Ministry fulfilled its commitment to implement an electronic system for searching legislation with the launch of QP LegalEze http://www.qplegaleze.ca/. QP LegalEze is a web based subscription service that offers the legal community and other professionals complete and comprehensive access to British Columbia's legislation from the official source; authoritative Regulations; and quick search results. The creation of QP LegalEze increases public accessibility to all provincial statutes (currently over 500) through the public library system.
• Within the Procurement and Supply Services area, revenues from the broader public sector increased more rapidly than anticipated — reaching a level of 26 per cent of total revenues.
• CITS adopted industry best practices for operating an IT service delivery organization to enable performance comparisons with other jurisdictions.
• CITS assumed responsibility for all IT infrastructure assets (40,000+) and all IT infrastructure contracts (200+) from ministries as part of the move to a shared services model.
• During 2002/03, the Legislature passed three amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP). These changes will improve privacy protection, increase openness and accountability and reduce overall compliance costs.
• Legislation to protect the personal information of BC citizens held by the private sector was prepared for introduction in 2003/04. The Personal Information Protection Act legislation will permit businesses and non-profit organizations to collect, use, disclose and share personal information for legitimate and reasonable purposes.
• Major components of the government's New Era Procurement Reform agenda were completed including: new legislation, a new policy framework, training and educational program pilots, more flexible contract language and expanded use of more sophisticated procurement methodologies.
• BC Stats, the central statistical agency of the Province of British Columbia, has the provincial government's largest concentration of statistical products, services and expertise. A key goal of BC Stats is to make information more accessible. As part of this initiative, the BC Stats E-store http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/store.htm was launched. The E-Store provides service 24 hours, seven days a week, to clients both inside and outside government.
• BC Archives http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/general/backgrnd.htm established the Canadian Archival Information Network project to describe and make accessible the archival records of 55 BC government bodies. It also increased and expanded client access to British Columbia's documentary heritage. A new search engine allows access to 10,000 new and updated entries online.
• Since its launch on August 15, 2001, the Waste Buster web site http://www.wastebuster.gov.bc.ca\ has had approximately two million hits and has received close to 7,500 submissions. The Waste Buster program focuses on improving processes to save money, boost performance and enhance public confidence in government. To date, savings total approximately $1.8 million.