I would agree with that.
I would say that utilizing staff resources generally for policy-making doesn't help. It is an onerous burden for the departmental staff, who are, as I said, overburdened. There are not enough individuals who can undertake this. In their day-to-day work, they are going to err on the side of caution, especially if it's a side job they're doing in addition to their main duties.
To the point of having an audit, maybe put more resources into the ATI system in order to get better responses.