On the basis of our review, we found that CFTC’s plan contained all of the components required by the Results Act but that some of the components could be strengthened. We also found that the plan could be improved by additional stakeholder input, including interagency coordination. Finally, due to the complex set of factors that determine regulatory outcomes, measuring program impacts presents challenges to CFTC in addressing the requirements of the Results Act, as it does for regulatory agencies in general. As indicated in the Results Act and OMB guidance, each plan is to include six major components: (1) a comprehensive statement of the agency’s mission, (2) the agency’s long-term goals and objectives for all major functions and operations, (3) a description of the approaches (or strategies) for achieving the goals and the various resources needed, (4) an identification of key factors, external to the agency and beyond its control, that could significantly affect its achievement of the strategic goals, (5) a description of the relationship between the long-term strategic goals and annual performance goals, and (6) a description of how program evaluations were used to establish or revise strategic goals and a schedule for future evaluations. However, we identified several areas in which CFTC could improve the plan as it is revised and updated. Although the general goals and outcome objectives support the agency’s mission, most could benefit by being restated in a way that facilitates future assessment of whether they have been achieved. Similarly, the plan’s discussion of communicating accountability could be expanded to address how CFTC will assign accountability to managers and staff for achieving objectives. While CFTC’s strategic plan discusses performance measures, it does not include performance goals that could be used to indicate the planned progress made each year toward achieving the general goals and objectives. CFTC could strengthen its plan by describing how the external factors are linked with particular goals and how a particular goal could be affected by the external factors. It could also be made more informative by discussing the timing and scope of future program evaluations as well as the particular issues to be addressed. CFTC’s Strategic Plan Reflects Limited Consultation

In developing their strategic plans, agencies are to consult with Congress and solicit the views of stakeholders—those potentially affected by or interested in the plan. Although developing performance measures and evaluating program impact are difficult, it is important that CFTC and other regulatory agencies continue their effort toward that end.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) strategic plan for compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) CFTC's strategic plan contained all of the major components required by the Results Act; (2) there are several areas in which CFTC could improve its plan; (3) the plan defines goals and objectives that supported CFTC's mission, but most of these could benefit by being restated in a way that would facilitate future assessment; (4) the plan identifies activities for achieving CFTC's goals and objectives, but could be more informative by including the resources needed for the activities, schedules for completing key actions, and ways for assigning accountability to managers and staff; (5) the plan's discussion of the relationship between goals in the annual and strategic plans could be strengthened by including more results-oriented performance measures that could be used to reflect progress made toward achieving its goals; (6) the plan identifies some key external factors that could affect the agency's ability to achieve its goals, but the plan could be improved by describing how such factors are linked to particular goals and how a particular goal can be affected by a specific factor; (7) the plan indicates that CFTC will use its existing processes to evaluate its programs, but the plan could be expanded to include information on the timing and scope of future evaluations; (8) the draft plan was made available to stakeholders late in the process and reflects limited consultation with stakeholders during plan development; (9) the plan does not discuss how CFTC will incorporate stakeholders' views in the development of future plans, and (10) although developing performance measures and measuring program impacts present challenges to CFTC and to other regulatory agencies in addressing the requirements of the Results Act, it is important that CFTC and these agencies continue their efforts toward that end.