Inspection of the Secretary of Energy`s foreign travel

Technical Report · Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 EDT 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/400595· OSTI ID:400595

On December 9, 1995, the Secretary of Energy requested that the Department`s Inspector General (IG) conduct a thorough examination of all Secretarial foreign travel from 1993 to December 1995 to include the purpose of each trip, the activities of each Federal participant in each trip, the funding of each trip, and claims for reimbursements for expenses by Federal trip participants. The Secretary also requested that the review include an assessment of travel authorization, voucher, traveler reimbursement, and auditing systems employed by the Department to identify steps that could be taken to reduce errors and improve accounting oversight. Additionally, the Secretary requested that the Inspector General conduct a thorough examination of the establishment and filling of the Department`s Ombudsman position. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated a review into these matters and assigned primary responsibility for the review to the Office of Inspections. The purpose of this inspection was to conduct a thorough examination of the 16 Secretarial foreign trips from June 1993 to December 1995. This report focuses on the four trade missions because of their extent and cost. We examined a number of Departmental management systems and processes involved in planning and executing the 16 foreign trips. To determine the actual cost of the 16 trips, it was necessary to determine who participated in the trips and to identify the individual travel costs. We were required to perform extensive reviews of records and conduct a large number of interviews because the Department could not provide any specific documents that could accurately account for who actually participated on the 16 trips. Having identified who participated, it was then necessary to examine key aspects of the Department`s management systems. Our report contains 31 recommendations for corrective action.

• Research Organization: USDOE Office of Inspector General, Washington, DC (United States). Office of Inspections
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 400595
• Report Number(s): DOE/IG-0397; ON: TI97000002
• Resource Relation: Other Information: DN: Report to The Secretary; PBD: 7 Oct 1996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 MATHEMATICS
COMPUTERS
INFORMATION SCIENCE
MANAGEMENT
LAW
MISCELLANEOUS
29 ENERGY PLANNING AND POLICY
TRANSPORT
COST
US DOE
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
EXPENDITURES
EVALUATION
PUBLIC OFFICIALS
US DOE INSPECTOR GENERAL
AUDITS
PERSONNEL
RECOMMENDATIONS
TRADE
BUSINESS
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ACCOUNTING