Sask. auditor releases findings on social services' hotel spending

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An audit stemming from concerns over government practices of securing hotel rooms for those on social assistance has been released.

The investigation came after the Saskatchewan NDP alleged that the Sunrise Motel in Regina, which was owned by a Sask. Party MLA, of increasing rates when the Ministry of Social Services began picking up the tab.

Motel receipts provided by the NDP in 2023 showed that a client had paid $132 a night, plus a $200 damage deposit, when she initially checked in.

However, when the Ministry of Social Services decided to foot the bill, the receipts show the government paid $168 a night and then $200 a night a few days later.

This initial complaint led to further debate in the Legislative Assembly, with the NDP calling on the government to report how much it spends on hotels for those on social assistance.

The continued debate and demand for transparency prompted the investigation from the provincial auditor.

According to Volume II of the 2024 Provincial Auditor’s Report released on Tuesday, prior to March 2024, the ministry did not consider best value when procuring hotel rooms for social services clients who require hotel stays.

“It may have been not spending public money wisely,” Provincial Auditor Tara Clemett said at a news conference on Tuesday, noting that the ministry spent over $3.5 million on hotels in 2023-24.

Clemett said the audit also found instances where ministry staff may not have selected the hotel with the lowest nightly rate and did not document why not.

“[The ministry] needs to demonstrate whether it considered best value when procuring hotel rooms for its Child and Family Program clients by documenting reasons for hotel room selections in its case management system,” she said.

The audit provided a figure outlining approximate spending on hotel rooms for clients across the province, noting that hotel expenditures have continually increased from 2021 to 2024.

Two pilot projects were initiated in March of 2024, which required the ministry to follow certain requirements.

One of the pilot projects requires staff to obtain three quotes when procuring hotel rooms and choose the hotel appropriate for client needs with the lowest rates.

The auditor assessed the ministry’s three quote pilot between March 2024 and June 2024.

It found that support staff communicated the price quote list with other relevant staff, the price quote list was used appropriately, and staff within the Child and Family Programs Branch obtained necessary approvals to procure hotel rooms.

The rates the ministry obtained ranged from $125 to $170 per night.

However, since implementing the three-quote process, the audit found that the ministry does not have a sufficient method to track the use of hotels.

“As it maintains detailed client-hotel data within multiple systems, it takes effort to determine how much the Ministry spends at one hotel over another,” the audit report read.

The second project involves contracting one hotel provider in Regina and one in Saskatoon to provide five hotel rooms every night at a single fixed rate for one year.

The audit found that the ministry appropriately communicated the request for proposal, gave hotels sufficient time to prepare responses, evaluated all hotels that submitted bids using an independent evaluation committee, assessed hotels using proper evaluation criteria, and awarded contracts to the Travelodge Suites in east Regina and the Country Inn and Suites in Saskatoon.

By assessing changes in processes up to July 31, 2024, the auditor found that documentation and collection of reliable data was lacking for hotel room selection.

“We found social services needs to centrally collect reliable data related to these two pilots so it can conduct a robust evaluation and determine whether these pilots resulted in efficiency improvements,” Clemett said.

The auditor went on to say the ministry also needs to publicly disclose payments made to vendors like hotels on behalf of its clients to increase transparency.

“Making this information readily available will allow the public to better hold the government and public sector officials accountable for the use of public sector funds,” she said.

-With files from the Canadian Press