2002/03 Annual Service Plan Report Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management

Performance Reporting

Overview

In the two years since the ministry's creation, good progress has been made in the implementation of performance management. The ministry tracked its performance in 2002/03 through 19 performance measures. These were chosen to be reasonably representative of the ministry's business and the outcomes it seeks to achieve. The number of measures under each goal is broadly in line with the dollars allocated to each goal.

A small number of measures track the intended outcomes of the ministry's activities such as the value of new partnerships. Because of the importance of land- and resource-use plans to investors in Crown resources, milestone measures concerning the completion of these plans are also seen as important outcome measures by the ministry. Most measures relate to the level and quality of service to clients and a number are reflective of stakeholder consultations and organizational capacity of the ministry. As the ministry was created to achieve significant structural changes in areas such as land- and resource-use planning and the delivery of resource information, approximately one-third of the ministry's major performance measures are of a milestone type. These necessarily change when the projects are completed.

Experience in 2002/03 showed changes in the performance measures were necessary to improve their effectiveness. One measure was amended early in the year because priorities changed. Another was found later in the year to be too difficult to define and track at reasonable cost. A number of other measures listed as "under development" in the 2002/03 Service Plan were found to be focused on the wrong outcome or could not be cost-effectively measured, and so were not pursued. As a result of these shortcomings, as well as the completion of major projects covered by milestone measures, most of the 19 performance measures have been amended in the ministry's 2003/04 Service Plan.

Little readily available baseline data exists because of the ministry's youth and its focus on new ways of doing business. Accordingly, the ministry will be turning to benchmarks from other jurisdictions.

Performance at a Glance

• 12 measures achieved or on target
• 5 measures delayed, below target or result couldn't be tracked cost-effectively
• 2 measures below target but the work consciously reduced in priority
• 19 in total

Detailed performance reports for each performance measure follow under the goals, objectives and strategies to which they relate. Supporting performance data on outputs and accomplishments are also provided. The performance of subsidiaries is monitored and reported by individual ministry divisions, with the exception of Land and Water British Columbia Inc. (LWBC) and its water planning and allocation responsibilities under Goal 4. LWBC reports on these responsibilities directly to the Minister⁹.

In a number of cases outlined under the relevant goal, priorities were altered and strategies implemented to manage risks and capacity opportunities that arose during the year (summarized in the Ministry Operating Context section).