The Energy Department has made some improvements in the management of its conferences since an audit report was issued last June but still has work to do in that area, according to an IG report.
The report was a follow-up to one that found the department had inconsistently applied conference criteria, the conference management tool was inaccurate, and program officials failed to properly report and break down food costs—issues that occurred, at least in part, because management did not ensure conference decisions were based on established requirements. That was based on a sampling of conferences held in a 14-month period ending in March 2013.
The latest review, however, found accounting, documentation and justification issues that affected a third of the 151 conferences it sampled for the first nine months of 2014. “The issues we discovered were similar to those described in our previous report on this matter and involved problems with database entries, cost comparisons, use of government facilities, adherence to department guidance, social event sponsorship and annual report requirements,” the auditors said.
For example, many conferences not held in federal facilities lacked documentation that such facilities were considered, data entry and recording requirements had not been satisfied, and some involved “social events that in our view, could lead to negative public perceptions.” These included events such as a casino night, Super Bowl party, golf tournament, banquet on a dinner cruise boat, dinner at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and a tour and dinner at an aquarium.
Departmental officials told the IG that the conferences were incorrectly characterized as department-sponsored when in fact they were only co-sponsored or not sponsored at all.