Annual Service Plan Reports 2004/05 -- Ministry of Children and Family Development

	Estimated¹	Other Authori- zations²	Total Estimated	Actual	Variance (Actual minus Total Estimated)³
Operating Expenses ($000)
Community Living Services	609,573	—	609,573	620,395	10,822
Child and Family Development	661,722	—	661,722	651,780	(9,942)
Provincial Services	94,028	—	94,028	90,769	(3,259)
Executive and Support Services	16,245	1,865	18,110	20,489	2,379
MCFD Total	1,381,568	1,865	1,383,433	1,383,433	0
Child Care Services		173,270	173,270	173,097	(173)
Total Operational	1,381,568	175,135	1,556,703	1,556,529	(173)
Adjustment to Prior Year Accrual	0	—	0	(30,989)	(30,989)
Total	1,381,568	175,135	1,556,703	1,525,540	(31,162)
Full-time Equivalents (Direct FTEs)
Community Living Services	455	—	455	460	5
Child and Family Development	2,641	—	2,641	2,650	9
Provincial Services	711	—	711	610	(101)
Executive and Support Services	176	—	176	183	7
MCFD Total	3,983	—	3,983	3,903	(80)
Child Care Services	151	—	151	158	7
MCFD Total	4,134	—	4,134	4,061	(73)
Ministry Capital Expenditures (Consolidated Revenue Fund) ($000)
Executive and Support Services	9,795	—	9,795	5,787	(4,008)
MCFD Total	9,795	—	9,975	5,787	(4,008)
Child Care Services	1,250	—	1,250	811	(439)
Total	11,045	—	11,045	6,598	(4,447)
Consolidated Capital Plan ($000)
Community Living Services	7,040	—	7,040	12	(7,028)
Child and Family Development	2,660	—	2,660	0	(2,660)
Provincial Services	2,132	—	2,132	0	(2,132)
Executive and Support Services	0	—	0	0	—
Total	11,832	—	11,832	12	(11,820)
Other Financing Transactions ($000)
Executive and Support Services - Human Services Providers Financing Program
Receipts	0	—	0	53	—
Disbursements	0	—	0	—	—
Net Cash Source (Requirements)	146	—	146	53	(93)
Total Receipts	146	—	146	53	(93)
Total Disbursements	0	—	0	—	—
Total Net Cash Source (Requirements)	146	—	146	53	(93)


¹	The "Estimated" amount corresponds to the Estimates as presented to the Legislative Assembly on February 17, 2004.
²	"Other Authorizations" include Supplementary Estimates, Statutory Appropriations and Contingencies. This reflects the transfer of child care into MCFD in June 2004.
³	Variance display convention has been changed this year to be consistent with the change introduced in public accounts. Variance is in all cases "Actual" minus "Total Estimates". Where the Actual is greater the Variance is displayed without brackets.

Explanation of Budget by Core Business Areas

The annual budget is based on core business assumptions contained in the ministry's three-year service plan. The plan was based on forecasts of expenditures and caseload trends, plus anticipated impacts of legislation, policy and program changes. The variance between the total estimated and the actual expenditures for each Core Business reflect fluctuations primarily in caseload and program demand. The ministry met its overall budget target for 2004/05.

The over expenditure of $10.8 million (or two per cent of the CLS budget) mainly reflects the increase in the number of adults with developmental disabilities served as a result of meeting the growing demand for services. Demand pressures include increased number of children requiring care when they reach the age of nineteen, and ageing caregiver population relying more on supports and services to help care for their adult children with developmental disabilities.

The under expenditure of $9.9 million (or two per cent of the CFD budget) was due to:

The under expenditure of $3.3 million (or four per cent of the Provincial Services budget) was primarily due to declining counts of youth in custody.

The over expenditure of $2.4 million (or 25 per cent of the Executive and Support Services budget) was due to higher than anticipated information technology and staffing costs.

Responsibility for Child Care Services was transferred to the ministry effective June 30, 2004. There is no significant variance between budget and expenditures.

The under expenditure of $4.4 million (or 40 per cent of the Capital Expenditures budget) was due to changing priorities in the information technology capital plan.

Amounts reflect adjustment of prior year's expense accruals which were credited to revenue and therefore not available for the ministry to spend. In 2004/05 the adjustment was credited to ministry expense and again was not available for spending.

The under expenditure of $11.8 million was mainly due to the cancellation of group home and other projects that were in the pre-planning stage.

Deregulation

The ministry's deregulation project is complete. Between June 2001 and June 2004, the ministry's was to reduce the regulatory burden by 40 per cent. This target was exceeded as the ministry reduced the regulatory burden by 53 per cent, from the baseline of 16,963 regulatory requirements down to less than 8,000.