The Assistant Inspector General for Policy and Planning coordinates closely with the Inspector General as well as the Assistants for Audit and for Investigations.

Responsibilities include the publication of the Semi-Annual Report, the publication and updating of the five-year Strategic Plan, participation in the Annual Audit Plan, and the USF Strategic Audit Plan. All audit reports are subjected to a high-level quality review to ensure objectivity, consistency, and ease of reading and understanding. FCC risk areas are assessed through the use of surveys and evaluation of Bureau/Office vulnerability assessments.

Additionally, assistance is provided to investigative activities, an internship program, and internal policies and procedures are developed and maintained. The AIG for Policy and Planning also serves as the liaison to the ECIE and as IG Ombudsman.

The Semi-Annual Report summarizes the activities of that OIG during the six-month periods ending March 31 and September 30. The report is submitted to the Chair no later than April 30 and October 31 of each year. The Chair may comment on the report, but may not change it. Within 30 days of receipt, the Chair submits the IG report to Congress, together with any comments he or she deems appropriate.

Items normally included in the report:

1. Description of significant problems, abuses, and deficiencies relating to the administration of the FCC’s programs and operation.

2. Audit recommendations for corrective action.

3. Significant audit recommendations described in previous reports for which the agency has not completed corrective action.

4. Matters referred to prosecutive authorities and the results of those prosecutions.

5. Closed investigations.

6. Statistical tables demonstrating the dollar results of the OIG’s internal program audits and contract audits performed during the reporting period.

The report may also include special feature articles concerning relevant topics.

The strategic plan discusses major program areas of the agency on which the OIG plans to focus. As these long-term strategies become more defined, they evolve into individual audits included in the section covering planned audits for the coming year. The strategic plan is not a static document, but a dynamic plan that is periodically reevaluated to ensure that OIG responds effectively to the needs of the Congress, the Commission, and the public.

The annual audit plan is a formal document outlining the audit workload and audit resources for the current fiscal year. Prior to the start of each fiscal year an audit plan is developed based upon the strategic plan, inputs from the Chair, Commissioners, and Bureau/Office Chiefs. It also considers previous audits/investigations and input from external sources such as GAO, OMB, and the Congress.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a significant FCC program for which the OIG has broad audit responsibilities. This strategic plan has been developed to provide overall goals and implementation strategies for oversight of the USF proram.