Ministry Role and Services

Ministry Overview

The Ministry of Management Services provides a broad range of services to the public, to other ministries and to the broader public sector.¹ The ministry also plays a significant role in improving the way that government services and information are delivered to clients and customers. The details of the roles and responsibilities of the ministry can be found in the "Core Business Areas" section of this report. This overview provides a general sense of the scope of the ministry, the services it provides, and the people it serves. A listing of the legislation for which the ministry has responsibility is contained in Appendix B.

Management Services appears deceptively small. Its budget or net voted appropriation was $48.372 million in 2003/04. It is, however, a large ministry: its 2003/04 gross expenditures were $405.128 million and its gross recoveries $356.756 million. In addition, the ministry also collected approximately $950 million in revenues on behalf of other ministries and agencies through the Government Agents Branch, and $62.4 million through BC OnLine.

The majority of the ministry's branches receive a voted appropriation of only $1,000 — driving them to operate in a disciplined, business-like manner. This "$1,000 vote structure" means that at the end of the fiscal year, expenditures must not exceed recoveries by more than $1,000.

For fiscal year 2003/04 the ministry had a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staff allocation of 1,727.

Since June 2001, the Ministry of Management Services has been reviewing and aligning its programs in order to support its customers. An organization chart can be found in Appendix C. Management Services provides services and information to customers, both inside and outside government.

For a government to function, it needs basic tools — computers, printers, e-mail, pens, copy paper, photocopiers, phones, network security, staples, envelopes and office furniture — just to name a few. In addition, employees must be paid; invoices and purchase orders must be processed; government mail must be processed and distributed; employee expenses must be reimbursed; government documents must be printed; office products must be obtained and distributed to local offices; and forms must be available for employees. It's not only important that these tools are provided to customers, but that they're also delivered in the most cost-effective and efficient way. That's the job of Solutions BC — the ministry's internal service provider for the government and other public sector customers.

When citizens, businesses or visitors are looking for information or services, they generally begin by contacting Service BC. Service BC delivers seamless, cost-effective services to British Columbians. Customers can connect in person by visiting one of 58 Service BC — Government Agent Offices or phone Enquiry BC toll-free from anywhere in the province. Increasingly, they are also turning to the Internet for both services and information. By using these "channels", a customer can access programs, services and information offered by ministries, agencies, the private sector and other governments, in ways that suit their personal needs.

The ministry provides important governance and strategic functions related to information and communications technology (ICT). The CIO provides leadership and a "whole of government" approach to organizing ICT and identifying the components needed to build a sustainable approach to e-Government. The CIO is also responsible for the corporate privacy and information access functions of government.

The ministry is home to a number of key service transformation initiatives including:

• The NetWork BC Project (formerly the Digital Divide Project)
• The ASD Project Secretariat
• The Service Delivery Initiative, and
• The Portal Project

Our customers are:

• Citizens looking for government information or services on the government website, through Enquiry BC, or at a Service BC — Government Agent Office;
• Businesses looking for information or services that allow them to comply with government regulations, opportunities to bid on supplying goods or services to government, or work with government to bring their private sector expertise to ASD or other opportunities;
• Visitors to British Columbia looking for tourism information on the government website, calling Enquiry BC, purchasing fishing licenses, or obtaining information face-to-face at a Service BC — Government Agent Office;
• Provincial ministries that purchase internal management services from Solutions BC, or that have services delivered on their behalf by Service BC; and
• Other levels of government and jurisdictions; the broader public sector; and Crown corporations that purchase procurement and supply services from Solutions BC, have services delivered on their behalf through Government Agents; or have services delivered through the network. Examples include: the Government of Canada, other provincial governments, municipalities, schools and universities, and Regional Health Authorities.

Because we are a client-led, customer-focused organization, our key partners are our customers and clients, whether they are citizens, businesses, or government employees. We take direction from them in order to continuously improve service delivery. Other partners include private sector businesses providing services on the ministry's behalf and suppliers who ensure government has the tools it needs to deliver the priorities identified by British Columbians.

Ministry Vision, Mission and Values

At the time the Vision, Mission and Value statements were published in the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan, the ministry was experiencing a major transformation and had recently added a number of new services, many with an information technology focus. During the year, new Vision, Mission, and Values statements that better reflect the broader scope and nature of ministry functions and that focus on who the ministry serves rather than what the ministry does, were adopted. The new statements are used here. A comparison of the original and revised statements is found in Appendix D.

Vision

To be a leader in connecting citizens, communities and businesses with government services and a valued partner in the delivery of innovative services to the public sector.

Mission

To champion the transformation of government service delivery to respond to the everyday needs of citizens, businesses and the public sector.

Values and Culture

Readers will see elements of these values reflected in the goals, strategies, and performance measures throughout this document. In particular, the ministry is dedicated to developing a results-based, customer-focused service culture — values that are reflected in many of the performance measures found within this document.

Ministry Operating Context

The ministry's operating context:

• The public expects government to enhance internal efficiencies, emphasize greater transparency and accountability, and improve service quality;
• The public also expects government to integrate and streamline services to create a cost-effective, seamless service delivery system;
• The British Columbia private sector wants to be a valued partner in the provision of Government services;
• While enjoying a high level of connectivity compared to the rest of the world, British Columbians still have inadequate access to advanced telecommunication and value-added online services; and
• Citizens want to be more electronically connected to government without increased privacy or security concerns.

Strengths

• The ministry has extensive reach across the province of British Columbia with a strong regional presence;
• There is a high customer satisfaction rating in many services (e.g., Enquiry BC, Government Agents, Procurement and Supply Services);
• There is a consolidated information technology systems capacity within the ministry (e.g., each of the main lines of business runs on one software platform as opposed to many);
• There is capacity within the ministry's lines of business to take on new business; and
• There is a willingness to change and improve the way the ministry does business.

Challenges

• As ministry purchases of shared services decline in volume as a result of workforce adjustment, ASD and devolution of components of government, Solutions BC will increasingly be faced with the challenge of covering fixed costs of infrastructure while dealing with diseconomies of scale. However, Solutions BC has a strong base of broader public sector customers, and strategies to further expand this market;
• Clients external to government will continue to be a diverse and complex group. This challenge is mitigated by the broad range of services and service delivery approaches being implemented by the ministry; and
• An aging workforce is resulting in loss of skilled staff and corporate memory. This challenge is mitigated through the implementation of a successorship plan.

Opportunities

• As more of government's services are brought online, British Columbia becomes a more attractive place for high technology firms to invest. Increased access to high-speed connectivity will encourage economic growth in all areas of the province;
• Government can improve the convenience and timeliness of services to customers through enhanced service delivery;
• Government can reduce costs through sharing services, particularly in relation to the delivery of common IT services, financial and administration services, payroll services, procurement and supply services, as well as online transactional services;
• Partnerships within the ministry and with other agencies will enhance flexibility and transparency in the delivery of services;
• Opportunities can be created for broader public sector clients (including other levels of government) to participate in shared services;
• Closing the digital divide will expand economic, health and learning opportunities, particularly for people in the Heartlands;
• Best practices amongst high-performing private and public sector agencies have been, and will continue to be, adopted to improve business practices and performance; and
• Monitoring and reporting of performance results identifies opportunities for improvement and helps allocate resources more effectively.

Ministry Structure and Core Business Areas

As the ministry has evolved over the past year, the core business areas have been revised. A comparison of the 2003/04 core business areas and the 2004/05 core business areas can be found in Appendix E. The 2003/04 core business areas are used here.

Since its creation in June 2001 the Ministry of Management Services has begun to change how government services and information are delivered to citizens, businesses, and the public sector. This on-going shift will ensure that the ministry's clients and customers receive improved services, delivered in the most cost-effective manner possible. Not only will British Columbians receive the best possible service, but government will be able to allocate resources more effectively.

In order to realize our goals and achieve our objectives, the ministry established the following five core business areas for fiscal year 2003/04:

• Governance and Integration
• Results Management Office
• Service and Channel Integration
• BC Shared Services Agency
• Executive and Support Services

Collectively, these five core business areas include all of the ministry's programs and services.

Core Business Area 1: Governance and Integration

It is important that when government is developing and implementing technology solutions, it is working in a forward looking and co-ordinated manner. This is the function of the CIO. The focus of the CIO is on ensuring that ICT is procured, developed, managed and used efficiently as a tool to enable better delivery of government services. The CIO is also responsible for the corporate privacy and information access functions of government, including the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP); PIPA; the Document Disposal Act, and the Electronic Transactions Act. The CIO is comprised of: IT Security, Strategic Planning and Policy, Technology Planning and Standards, and Support and Stakeholder Relations.

Over the past year, the ministry's work in this core business area focused on:

• developing the government's e-BC Strategic Plan (www.cio.gov.bc.ca/ebc/) and ensuring that the plan is aligned with the Service Delivery Initiative and ASD projects;
• improving the timeliness, access, cost, quality and alignment of information technology solutions;
• co-ordinating the Information Resource Management Process for government;
• developing an "authentication" framework to enable government to manage identity and eligibility information used for electronic service delivery programs and services; and
• implementing privacy legislation, policy and procedures, including PIPA, which came into force on January 1, 2004, to support business and service delivery initiatives.

The work of the CIO supports the ministry's goals of implementing effective electronic service transformation initiatives; and providing cost-effective efficient access to government services and information for citizens, businesses and the broader public sector.

During 2003/04, this core business area had $3.921 million in expenditures, and 21 FTEs.

Core Business Area 2: Results Management Office (RMO)

The RMO was created because it was recognized that business requirements should drive investments in ICT and that a corporate organization was required to apply project management discipline to electronic service delivery initiatives. The government's Internet site — the Portal — is a major project managed by the RMO. The Portal offers a new avenue for citizens, businesses and visitors to access government services in a way that suits their needs.

The government's website provides secure, convenient access to a vast amount of information and services 24 hours a day — for example:

• educational opportunities provide new pathways for people at any stage in life (detailed at Achieve BC) www.achievebc.ca;
• convenient Multiple Address Change allows anyone moving within BC to easily change their address for the Medical Services Plan, driver's licence and voter registration www.gov.bc.ca/bvprd/bc/channel.do?action=service Jump&channelID=-8522&navId=NAVIDprovince; and
• provincial highways road reports provide important information for tourists and local travelers.

The site is also the gateway to innovative e-services including:

• a new Corporate Online service — where companies can register www.bconline.gov.bc.ca/; and
• Land Information BC, which provides a single window to the province's land and resource information — including more than 30 services provided by the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management such as reports, documents, images and interactive mapping tools www.gov.bc.ca/bvprd/bc/keyInitiativeHome.do?action=
  landInfoBCUser&navID= NAVIDprovince.

This core business area is now known as "Service Transformation", and in the course of 2003/04 was expanded to include three additional areas of responsibility.

The Service Delivery Initiative: works with ministries and other levels of government to identify and implement opportunities for collaboration and integration of services that maximize convenience to the public. The foundation for the initiative is the Client-Centred Service Delivery Framework, which lays out the direction for making government services more customer focused. By the end of 2003/04, the Initiative had established 42 Cross Ministry Work Teams representing 57 communities. The Teams developed a range of strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery at the local level including:

• co-locating ministries into shared office space resulting in reduced building occupancy costs over the long-term and new relationships being formed between ministries;
• sharing resources such as vehicles and equipment;
• establishing common front counters for one-point access to services;
• integrating common services across ministries; and
• maximizing the use of electronic business tools to facilitate integrated government activity.

Networks among different levels of government within communities were also developed as Teams worked to engage partners from the broader public sector.

NetWork BC: is another cross-government initiative. British Columbia is one of the most connected provinces in Canada. More than 72 per cent of households have an internet connection and more than half of those are high-speed or broadband connections. However, even with our high rate of connectivity, there remains a digital divide — a line demarcated by geography, income, education level, literacy, age and ethnicity — that determines who is online in British Columbia, and who is not.

Telecommunications and Internet links do more than enhance personal communication; they also facilitate the delivery of new educational, health care and other services, and they encourage the revitalization of rural communities by allowing the people living in those communities to participate in the global electronic economy. Increasingly, these services must be broadband, or high capacity, to have real impact.

At present, high-speed broadband is available in the more populated areas of the province. On the positive side, 89 per cent of the population live in a community where broadband is available. Of the 366 provincial communities being tracked for broadband access, 169 do not have access and 100 of these remote communities are First Nations or communities in proximity to First Nations. These unconnected communities are small and there is little business case for commercial carriers to make the investment required to bring high-speed services to these areas.

NetWork BC is leveraging the telecommunications purchase by the public sector to bring services to these communities. In the future, if vendors want to sell telecommunications to the provincial government, they will need to be involved in providing solutions to these underserved communities.

This core business area had a voted appropriation of $2.125 million and recoveries of $3.260 million for a total expenditure of $5.385 million. It had an FTE allocation of seven.

The ASD Project Secretariat: provides specialized expertise and overall governance to project teams across government that are involved in ASD initiatives. ASD transforms how government operates by allowing for private sector partnerships and outsourcing, where it makes sense to do so. ASD covers a wide range of delivery approaches focusing on providing the best value for the tax dollar.

In 2003/04, the Government of British Columbia tendered seven projects that apply private sector expertise to government's business and information technology processes:

• Health Benefit Operations;
• Revenue Management Project;
• Common Student Information System;
• Integrated Land and Resource Registry;
• Strategic Sourcing;
• Payroll Operations and Information Management; and
• Workplace Support Services.

It should be noted that in all contractual arrangements, government will continue to protect the privacy of British Columbians, and will own and manage all information and services to ensure quality control.

The ASD Project Secretariat is treated separately from the rest of the core business area in the Resource Summary. It had expenditures of $3.350 million during 2003/04, all from voted appropriation.

The initiatives captured under this core business area support the ministry's goal of providing effective electronic service transformation initiatives.

Core Business Area 3: Service and Channel Integration

Ensuring that citizens, businesses and the broader public sector have convenient access to high quality, seamless services is a priority for the Government of British Columbia. During fiscal year 2003/04, this core business area was renamed Service BC. Service BC is comprised of: Government Agents, BC Connects (Enquiry BC, BC OnLine and BC Internet Services) and BC Stats.

Service BC organizes the way government delivers services so that they make sense for customers, allowing them to choose internet, telephone, or face-to-face service. Government Agents, Enquiry BC, BC OnLine and BC Internet Services provide access to information and services on behalf of a wide range of government ministries and agencies. Rather than dealing with individual ministries, customers can access services and information through one "corporate" or integrated point of contact. In addition, BC Stats provides ministries, as well as other clients and customers, with statistical products, services, research and expertise. During 2003/04:

• Government Agents served over two million customers and collected $950 million on behalf of other government programs through its revenue management system;
• Enquiry BC responded to more than one million telephone calls and e-mails; and
• BC OnLine provided electronic access to 6.4 million transactions for business and government users with $62.4 million in total revenue collected.

The work of Service BC supports the ministry's goal of providing cost-effective and efficient access to government services and information for citizens, businesses and the broader public sector.

This core business area had a voted appropriation of $26.550 million and recoveries of $11.203 million for total expenditures of $37.753 million. It had an FTE allocation of 363.

Core Business Area 4: BC Shared Services Agency

Government's three-year strategic plan calls for ministries to operate in an innovative, enterprising, results-oriented and accountable manner. These goals are to be achieved in part by eliminating duplication and streamlining delivery of internal management services. To achieve this goal, the ministry has implemented a shared services model — Solutions BC. Launched at the beginning of 2003/04, Solutions BC offers internal management support services to the British Columbia government and the broader public sector. Solutions BC is comprised of: Common Information Technology Services (CITS) and Common Business Services (Procurement and Supply Services — which includes BC Mail Plus, Queen's Printer, BC Bid, Strategic Acquisitions and Intellectual Property Management, Product and Supply Distribution, and Asset Investment Recovery — Corporate Accounting Services (CAS) and Payroll Services).

In 2003/04 a Master Service Agreement setting out the general terms and principles governing Solutions BC provision of services to clients was signed. In addition, three of four lines of business² completed service schedules with clients, which set out specific service levels and pricing.

The transition to shared services has yielded significant cost savings in payroll services. It is estimated that ministries budgeted $10.26 million for payroll services in 2002/03. In 2003/04 that amount decreased to $9.3 million, and if ministries take advantage of the new Employee Self-Service technology, that amount will decrease to $6.3 million in 2004/05.³

Over the past year, Solutions BC has made significant changes to improve how services are delivered to the ministries of government and to the broader public sector, including: the launch of Employee Self-Service, which allows employees to view their pay advices, leave balances and personal information online; the upgrade to BC Bid, which saves suppliers time and money; and the introduction of a Budget/Chart of Accounts application, which integrates budget development and financial reporting processes.

Here's a sampling of what Solutions BC delivers:

• Every two weeks, payroll services produces 31,000 electronic payments to staff;
• CAS handles 10 million transactions each year, with approximately 4,000 scheduled processes every day;
• Procurement and Supply Services provides $92 million in cost-recoverable products and services through 650,000 annual transactions with ministries and other public sector bodies;
• Close to $400 million in goods and services are purchased annually through Purchasing Services;
• BC Mail Plus processes and distributes over 20 million pieces of mail annually. It also provides mail list management for over 110,000 addresses;
• CITS provides province-wide voice and data network connectivity to 1,200 government offices, over 2,000 educational centres, and 800 pharmacies;
• The Strategic Acquisitions and Intellectual Property Management Program delivers advice on complex projects with an estimated, aggregate contract value in excess of $1.5 billion;
• Approximately 125,000 employee travel claims are processed electronically every year using iExpense; and
• Queen's Printer prints or brokers approximately 11,800 print jobs every year.

Over and above creating efficiencies and reducing costs, the ministry's procurement and supply operations take a "green" approach, which in turn supports sustainability. For example, the ministry:

• sells assets no longer required by the provincial government, Crown corporations and federal government operations in BC (an arrangement unique in Canada). Funds returned to ministries and other levels of government from sales in 2002/03 exceeded $7.5 million net;
• recycles assets that have no economic value and minimizes their environmental impact by removing harmful chemicals and elements — such as lead from computers;
• buys recycled paper in volume and makes it available to ministries and the broader public sector. Approximately 35 million sheets of recycled paper were used by ministries last fiscal year — about 33 per cent of government's consumption of paper;
• uses only water-based inks in the Queen's Printer operation, which prevents environmental damage; and
• establishes the procurement arrangements to make available 46 hybrid gas/electric vehicles for government use — one of the largest hybrid fleets in North America.

The work of this core business area supports the ministry's goal of providing cost-effective and efficient government services and information for citizens, businesses and the broader public sector.

Expenditures for this core business area totaled $345.702 million, of which $5.854 million was voted appropriation and $339.848 million was recoveries. It had an FTE allocation of 1,320.

Core Business Area 5: Executive and Support Services

This core business area provides effective leadership and change management as the ministry transforms itself to lead the provincial strategy for the integration of customer and client-focused, multi-channel service delivery to the public and broader public sector.

In 2003/04 the ministry's work in this area focused on:

• providing effective financial management;
• providing overall leadership to the ministry in order to carry out its mission;
• ensuring that employees had the tools to adapt to and benefit from change;
• ensuring the ministry recruited and retained a workforce that is competent, capable and flexible;
• ensuring that staff actions aligned with ministry goals and objectives; and
• ensuring that the ministry's working environment encouraged productivity and innovation.

The work of this core business area supports the ministry's goal of creating a customer-focused, results-oriented, innovative and knowledgeable team.

Expenditures for this core business area totaled $9.017 million, of which $6.572 million was voted appropriation and $2.445 million was recoveries. It had an FTE allocation of 16.

Strategic Shifts and Significant Changes in Policy Direction

The 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan, published in February 2003, reflected a restructuring of the ministry's core business areas as additional program areas from across government were moved to the ministry. This transfer was done to strategically consolidate functions needed to provide service delivery to customers inside and outside of government. These changes have had an impact on the ministry's organizational structure and on the core business areas. Through the first half of fiscal year 2003/04, the newly expanded ministry was able to better identify how the functions of the different business units could best work together, which has resulted in further refinement of the organization's structure and core business areas.

The 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan had a strong information technology focus. During fiscal year 2003/04 a number of key strategies were undertaken to strengthen government's use of this powerful tool in transforming service delivery. As these initiatives matured, the ministry's focus has shifted from technology-based strategies to the use of technology as a tool in support of service delivery.

The performance measures defined in the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan were heavily oriented towards those strategies. Since then, the ministry has begun a process of refining the performance measures to ensure that they evaluate performance-based service delivery outcomes.

Update on New Era Commitments

The following table shows the progress made by the Ministry of Management Services during 2003/04 in achieving the New Era Commitments assigned to the ministry in June 2001.