The preparation of the "Guide for Preparing Annual Reports for Public Agencies" comes based on the royal order number (22364) dated 13/5/1438 AH, which mandates the National Center for Performance Measurement to propose the rules, standards, models, methodologies, and tools necessary for building the annual reports that public agencies should adhere to when preparing their annual reports, in accordance with Article (29) of the Council of Ministers System (1).

Public agencies in this guide refer to "ministries, authorities, and public institutions, including universities and other government agencies, which submit their annual reports in accordance with the provisions of Article (29) of the Council of Ministers System." The Guide for Preparing Annual Reports for Public Agencies will be referred to hereafter as (the guide), and it is binding on all public agencies.

The guide explains how to prepare reports that demonstrate the performance of public agencies, in terms of the achievements they have made compared to the previous financial year, along with an explanation of the challenges they faced and their suggestions for improving workflow with full transparency. The guide links the content of the report to the objectives of the Kingdom's current visions, its future visions, as well as the achievements of ministries, public institutions, universities, and other government agencies.

The accompanying advisory appendix to this guide outlines the best methodologies and proposed formal aspects for preparing and presenting the report.

• This section must be written with a high degree of accuracy and attention, as it reflects the capability of the public entity to express its current status and achievements in light of its plan, and the obstacles it faced that hindered that. Each entity should refer to its fundamental tasks, as stated in its law or statute, or the regulatory tool governing its work, from which it derives its strategic and annual plans. The proposed analysis methodologies in the advisory annex can be used as a guide for writing this section.

• 1/2: Introduction

• This item pertains to the introduction of the report and its objectives, and the preface of its content and components to the recipient. Below are the essential parts that the introduction must contain:

  • 1- An overview of the objectives of the public entity.

  • 2- The purpose of the report, its importance, and the expected objectives from it, indicating that this report comes in response to the requirements of Article No. (29) of the Law of the Council of Ministers.

  • 3- The methodology followed in preparing the report, in terms of clarifying the sources from which data and information were collected, in addition to the approach followed in describing and analyzing this data and information to reach specific results and recommendations.

  • 4- A list of the parts included in the body of the report in addition to the annexes (if any).

• 2/2: Strategic Direction

• This item must describe the objectives of the entity related to its tasks, indicating their nature.

  • A. Vision and mission.

  • B. A brief about the strategic plan of the entity, highlighting the elements of the current annual plan under the report, and its relation to the strategic plan of the public entity.

  • C. The basic objectives of the entity related to its main strategies.

  • D. Objectives at the level of the current vision of the Kingdom or future visions, which are tasks designed to achieve a number of vision objectives (such as objectives assigned from vision realization programs).

  • E. Objectives at the level of national strategies, derived from the most prominent challenges that the state must face in the long term, which require close cooperation with many entities.

  • F. Objectives at the sector strategy level (if any).

• 3/2 Performance Summary

• This item must contain a quantitative report on the status of the main performance indicators of the public entity and the status of initiatives.

  • 1. The annual evaluation of the main performance indicators of the entity issued by the National Center for Performance Measurement of Public Entities (Model No. 1).

  • 2. The status of approved initiatives according to official procedures, and all its parts are filled according to the methodology of the National Center for Performance Measurement of Public Entities "Ada'a" (Model No. 2).

  • 3. International indicators related to the public entity and the Kingdom's ranking according to the international indicator, in order to achieve the objectives of the Kingdom's current and future visions, and the strategic objectives of the public entity (if any). (Model No.3).

  • 4. The level of satisfaction of beneficiaries with the services provided by public entities that provide direct services to beneficiaries through direct communication or service centers or electronic platforms according to reports issued by the National Center for Performance Measurement of Public Entities on the beneficiary experience (if any) or through beneficiary experience measurement tools applied by the entity itself which align with the methodology of the National Center for Performance Measurement of Public Entities in this regard, and expressing the entity's views on its results.

• 4/2: Key Works and Achievements

• This item must clarify the works of public entities during the past fiscal year through the following points:

  • 1. Royal orders and decisions of the Council of Ministers that include directives to perform a specific work, and what has been done regarding them, including directives and decisions issued regarding the report or previous annual reports. (Model No. 4).

  • 2. Operational and capital works and achievements of the entity during the year, mentioning the names of projects, describing the achievements, what is still in progress, and works that have not been initiated, clarifying the economic and social impact of the work, in addition to mentioning initiatives related to the work, with consideration of comparing achievements with what was achieved in the previous fiscal year whenever possible.

  • 3. Building human capacities in terms of training, dispatch, and scholarships (Model No. 5 and 6).

  • 4. Social activities, conferences, and international and local awards achieved by the entity. (If any).

  • 5. Key works and achievements of the Vision Realization Office in the entity (if any).

  • 6. Any other important information regarding the key works and achievements of the entity.

  • 7. In the case of regulatory entities, the report must include sufficient information on matters that it monitors related to the entity's jurisdiction under the report.

  • 8. In the case of financial entities from public entities and government funds, the report of these entities must include sufficient information on financial matters (such as: financial position, investments of the public entity, and the like if any).

• 5/2 Opportunities and Factors Assisting in Achieving Them

• Opportunities that the public entity sees as possible to seize and their feasibility must be written after evaluating the internal factors and external conditions that the public entity is going through, mentioning the expected impact from them, and the support required to achieve them.

• 6/2: Challenges and Required Support

  • 1. Points of weakness and challenges faced by the public entity must be written, mentioning their impact, in terms of internal operational and strategic matters or external factors that may affect the work of the public entity, such as (economy, technology... etc. if any) with clarification of the connection of the entity's agencies and administrative units' competencies with achieving the strategic plan of the entity.

  • 2. Proposals or alternatives that the public entity sees as possible to help overcome the challenges it faces must be presented, with an initial conception of how to implement them to ensure the smooth running of work; this may include: (developing or simplifying procedures, improving services, increasing operational efficiency, developing human resources, rationalizing expenses, or others). (Model No. 7).

• The current status of the general apparatus must be detailed in this section and the following points written:

  • 1. The administrative structure of the general apparatus must be detailed, including administrative changes in terms of the number of main units existing in the main center, directorates, branches, and related entities in different regions of the Kingdom, as well as the departments and sections affiliated with each, with the organizational structure of the general apparatus attached along with a statement of its approval status.

  • 2. The status of human resources, including data and details of human resources in terms of number, nationality, gender, qualification, and specialization, and a statement of vacant positions at the end of the fiscal year, along with historical changes to this data. (Model No. 8 and its accompanying chart).

  • 3. Summary of budget appropriations and actual expenditures according to budget chapters. (Model No. 9).

  • 4. Summary of the estimated revenues of the general apparatus compared to the actual revenues in the main accounts of the general apparatus. (Model No. 1).

  • 5. Contracts of signed projects, their subjects, costs, and progress compared to what was stated in the strategic plan, with the name of the approved project or programs, the amount of appropriation in the budget, and what was accomplished during the year for which the report was prepared and its percentage. (Model No. 11).

  • 6. The current status of buildings allocated to the general apparatus. (Model No. 12).

  • 7. The contribution of the private sector in financing and managing the works of the general apparatus. (Privatization if any).

  • 8. Any other important information describing the current status of the apparatus.

This section must include a reminder of the purpose of the report, the main points that were mentioned within it, and it should refer to the reasons for success or failure for the year of the report, along with a brief overview of the potential for success of the upcoming annual plan.

• 1. All contents of the report, with its various data, must be logical in terms of the accuracy, timeliness, and credibility of the information.

• 2. The stages and timeframes that the annual report of public agencies goes through:

  • A. Stage 1: Public agencies shall submit their annual reports to the Royal Court within ninety days from the beginning of each fiscal year - taking into account government agencies whose regulations stipulate otherwise - in implementation of Article (29) of the Council of Ministers Law, and the Royal Court shall directly refer it to the Shura Council.

  • B. Stage 2: The Shura Council shall discuss the annual reports of public agencies and propose what it deems appropriate for each individually, within a period not exceeding three months from the date of referral of the report to the council, and the Shura Council shall submit its decision regarding the report to the King, based on Article (seventeen) of the Shura Council Law issued by Royal Order No. (A/91) dated 27/8/1412 AH, amended by Royal Order No. (A/198) dated 2/10/1424 AH. The Council of Ministers shall inform the public agencies that submitted their annual reports of the decision issued by the Shura Council regarding them for study.

  • C. Stage 3: The Royal Court shall refer to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers the matter related to the decision of the Shura Council issued regarding the annual report of the public agency as soon as it is received, along with providing the agency with a copy of the decision accompanied by a memorandum of the council's justification, in preparation for referring the matter to the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for study in participation with the relevant authorities.

  • The agency must provide the Bureau with its observations - certified and documented by its top official - regarding what the decision includes within a period not exceeding (15) days from the date the agency is provided with it, and the Bureau may extend this period by no more than (15) additional days. If the public agency does not provide the Bureau with its observations, the Bureau may complete the study of the matter in light of the available documents and what appears to it regarding it or return it to complete what is necessary.

  • D. Stage 4: The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers shall present the annual reports referred to it, and what has been prepared on them to the Council of Ministers; for discussion and taking what is necessary regarding each report individually, within a period not exceeding six months from the date of referral of the report to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.

• 3. The Royal Court shall follow up with public agencies regarding their commitment to submit their annual reports and their observations regarding the decisions of the Shura Council made regarding those reports.

• 4. Public agencies may submit their proposals regarding what they see concerning this guide to the permanent committee concerned with updating it; to consider their proposals when updating it.

• 5. It is the responsibility of the entity to submit the annual report of achievements fully and independently according to this guide.

• 6. Public agencies whose performance is measured by the National Center for Performance Measurement of Public Agencies must use electronic platforms and official reports of the center to extract their performance data from indicators, initiatives, and evaluations of beneficiary satisfaction and include them in their annual report.

• 7. It is possible to add/remove columns from the templates of the forms available in the guide and add charts or illustrations according to the competencies and discretion of the entities.

• 8. Government agencies must publish their annual reports - or their contents - to the public, after submitting them to the Royal Court, according to regulations set by the permanent committee, without prejudice to what is stipulated by the regulations of the mentioned agencies or their organizational structures, and what is stipulated by the laws, regulations, decisions, orders, and instructions related to confidential information or the like.