Policies for Ministers' Offices - January 2011

Appendix E: Ministers' Operating Budgets

The operating budgets of a minister cover all operating expenditures incurred by parliamentary secretaries, by exempt staff or by departmental staff in a minister's office.
Only direct operating expenditures that are related to the conduct of the portfolio or other official government departmental business are to be charged to a minister's operating budgets.

The following table is to assist in clarifying what should be charged to a minister's other operating costs budget.

Expenditure items *	Minister's Other Operating Costs Budget	Department's Budget
^* This table presents a non-exhaustive but a representative list of operating expenditures items.
Official gifts in the operations of a departmental minister's office	Yes	No
Travel and hospitality directly related to the operations of a minister's offices	Yes	No
Costs for international travel where the travel is required for departmental operational or program purposes only (see section 6.5)	No	Yes
Conference and training costs for exempt staff	Yes	No
Relocation of exempt staff to a minister's office (on appointment only)	Yes	No
Office furniture and furnishings for ministers and their private secretaries that are over and above departmental standards	Yes	No
Office furniture and furnishings for ministers and their private secretaries that are within departmental standards	No	Yes
Fees for professional outplacement services	Yes	No
Cost of professional and temporary help services for the minister's office	Yes	No
Acquisition of cellphones for the operations of a minister's office	No	Yes
Usage of cellphone	Yes	No
Acquisition and usage of lap-tops for the operations of a minister's office	No	Yes
Acquisition of office equipment that is over and above departmental standards	Yes	No
Acquisition of office equipment that is within the normal departmental standards.	No	Yes
Postage and courier services related to the operations of a minister's office	Yes	No
Postage and courier services for the operations of the department, outside of a minister's office	No	Yes
Translation and interpretation services	No	Yes
Language training for exempt staff when required of the position	No	Yes
Language training at the discretion of a minister	Yes	No
Office accommodation within the departmental standard	No	No
Office accommodation recovered by PWGSC for space required that is over and above the departmental standard	No	Yes
All other expenditures directly attributable to the operations of a minister's office	Yes	No
All indirect departmental costs such as corporate services costs (e.g. Finance and HR) and other internal service providers costs	No	Yes
Administrative costs respecting blind trusts at the recommendation of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner	No	Yes

Footnotes

[1] A minister of state cannot require a parliamentary secretary to travel.

[2] In this instance, minister does not include a minister of state.

[3] A minister of state cannot require a parliamentary secretary to extend hospitality.