Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures

Parole Board of Canada 2015 - 2016

As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on travel, hospitality and conference expenditures for Parole Board of Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016.

Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency relate to activities that support the department or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.

Mandate:

The PBC is an independent administrative tribunal that has exclusive authority under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to grant, deny, cancel, terminate or revoke day parole and full parole, and authorize or approve temporary absences. The PBC may also order certain offenders to be held in prison until the end of their sentence. In addition, the PBC makes conditional release decisions for offenders in provinces and territories that do not have their own parole boards. The PBC is also responsible for making decisions to order, refuse to order and revoke record suspensions under the Criminal Records Act and the Criminal Code of Canada. The PBC also makes recommendations for the exercise of clemency through the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

Parole Board of Canada Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2016

Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Expenditure category	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2016 ($ thousands)	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2015 ($ thousands)	Variance ($ thousands)
Travel
Public Servants	$1,536.00	$1,450.00	$86.00
Non-public Servants	$86.00	$80.00	$86.00
A. Total travel	$1,622.00	$1,450.00	$6.00
B. Hospitality	$4.00	$3.00	$1.00
C. Conference fees	$14.00	$16.00	-$2.00
Total [A+B+C]	$1,640.00	$1,549.00	$91.00
International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year

Total travel:

Public Servants: 1536 Departmental travel expenditures for public servants increased in 2015-16 by $86K compared to 2014-15. The most significant component of this category is travel by Board members and Hearing Officers to correctional institutions to conduct conditional release hearings. Travel of this type decreased in 2015-16 as a result of continued use of video-conferencing. Travel for internal governance increased. This was due in part to the transition of senior management, requiring visits to all regions. In addition, every year PBC holds the Annual Training on Risk Assessment (ATRA) as a form of continuous learning for all Board members and some of the staff. PBC alternates the location where ATRA is held; every other year it is held in Ottawa and the alternate year in a region. In 2104-15 ATRA was held in Moncton where as in 2015-16 it was held in Ottawa which led to increased travel costs as the majority of Board members are in regions, meaning more must travel to Ottawa for training.;
Non-Public Servants: 86 Departmental travel expenditures related to non-public servants increased in 2015-16 by $6K compared to 2014-15. Travel for Non-Public Servants slightly increased in 2015-16 due to normal variance caused by increased travel costs.

Hospitality:

Departmental hospitality expenditures increased in 2015-16 by $1K compared to 2014-15. The Board has limited hospitality, offering it on an exceptional basis only. The Board has taken steps to minimize hospitality expenses, and as a result, hospitality is generally only offered at the ATRA in the form of coffee and tea during health breaks to minimize time spent away from the training. Hospitality has not changed significantly from the previous year.

Conference fees:

Departmental conference fees expenditures decreased in 2015-16 by $2K compared to 2014-15. The Board has a National Conference Committee to review and approve the participation of Board members and employees in regional, national and international conferences. In 2015-16, there were less conference participations approved than the previous year.