United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-06-29 monographic deposited born digital 34 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-823 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823 P0b002ee18037b56b f:d01823 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823 GAO-01-823 Performance measures Strategic planning Reporting requirements Program evaluation DOE Stockpile Stewardship Program DOE/Navy Naval Reactors Program GPRA Government Performance and Results Act Other Written Product A01485 This report reviews the Department of Energy's (DOE) fiscal year 2002 performance report and fiscal 2002 performance plan as required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to assess DOE's progress in achieving five key outcomes identified as important mission areas for the agency. GAO found that DOE's performance report does not always effectively demonstrate the agency's progress in achieving its outcomes because it includes (1) unclear, jargon-laden measures that do not always support superceding objectives, (2) performance assessments that are inconsistent with actual performance,(3) objectives with insufficient performance measures, and (4) a lack of explanation for shortfalls in performance. In its fiscal year 2002 performance plan, DOE generally outlines broad, clear strategies for achieving the objectives under the selected outcomes. However, DOE does not consistently provide detailed, specific actions required to achieve some of the outcomes. DOE's fiscal year 2000 performance and accountability report and fiscal year 2002 performance plan present an overall improvement over previous reports and plans. Specifically, the fiscal year 2000 report organizes information by departmental decision unit to better track with the budget, and it includes improved linkages between objectives and funding. Similarly, the fiscal year 2002 plan includes general performance goals that are linked to each budgetary decision unit. However, both the report and the plan continue to have some weaknesses. In particular, the report does not always provide a clear picture of how much progress has actually been made, nor does it always outline detailed strategies for making further progress when targets were not met. In addition, the report continues to provide minimal information on procedures to validate and verify performance information. Similarly, the plan does not provide adequate explanations for changes made to objectives, goals, and measures, and it often contains vague descriptions, such as "promote" and "enhance", for some strategies that make it difficult to get a clear picture of DOE's intended performance. Finally, DOE does not disclose data limitations in either the performance plan or the report for the key outcomes. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823.pdf GAO-01-823 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-823 Other Written Product GAO-01-823; Department of Energy: Status of Achieving Key Outcomes and Addressing Major Management Challenges; Performance measures Strategic planning Reporting requirements Program evaluation DOE Stockpile Stewardship Program DOE/Navy Naval Reactors Program GPRA Government Performance and Results Act