Five years after its implementation, a hotline designed to capture complaints of political waste and fraud in the HRM is receiving a drop off in calls.
An analysis of data from five annual reports on the Taking Improvement & Performance Seriously (TIPS) hotline indicates that the number of calls has decreased by 43 per cent since 2011 to 2015.
The anonymous hotline is operated by the office of Halifax Auditor General Larry Munroe. An independent member of the municipality, his role is to hold the city’s regional council and administration accountable.
The Auditor General
Halifax is the only city in Atlantic Canada to have an Auditor General and seven years after becoming the HRM’s first and only person to hold the position, Munroe will be leaving his post in September.
“We’ve done a lot of good work, a lot of work on behalf of the people of the HRM.” Munroe said. “We like to believe that we are making a difference.”
One of the programs introduced early in Munroe’s tenure was the TIPS hotline which has received support from citizens and city officials alike.
“I think it’s a good resource to have,” said Jennifer Watts, HRM Councillor for Peninsula North. “Sometimes having things that are anonymous allows people to provide more information.”
A Complaint Program by Any Other Name
Programs like TIPS are common in major cities throughout Canada but are often referred to as fraud and waste hotlines.
“The [TIPS] acronym is something that we developed,” Munroe said. “I didn’t like the tone that implied it had to be a call about fraud or waste.”
Instead, Munroe wanted it to be an avenue where citizens or workers of the city could notify his office about concerns that would help improve the municipality.
Results of Analysis
From 2011 to 2015 there were a total of 222 calls to the TIPS hotline. According to Munroe, few calls were discovered to involve illicit or even improper conduct.
The unit which received the highest number of complaints was Transportation and Public Works which had 41, or 18 per cent, of the total calls in five years.
Out of all the departments which had recorded data for all five years, Legal had the fewest number of complaints with two.
Munroe refused to comment on the nature of any of the calls or if they have affected changes to programs within the municipality. He says that in order for the program to work it requires complete anonymity.
“We don’t ever talk about anything with the hotline,” Munroe said “Anything ever published is exactly as it is in the reports you’re able to see right now. “
Munroe says that while he considers the program to be an absolute success, he did think it would be more active than it is. However, when Munroe leaves in September he hopes that his successor chooses to continue TIPS.
“For what [the Office of the Auditor General] put into the program,” he says. “We’re very pleased with what we’ve gotten out of it”