INTRODUCTION
Offaly County Council has, under Section 8 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014, prepared and published this Publication Scheme in conformity with the model scheme and guidelines made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
This Publication Scheme came into effect on 14th April 2016.
PURPOSE OF THE PUBLICATION SCHEME
The scheme is designed to facilitate the publication or provision of records outside of FOI provided that such publication or provision is not prohibited by law. Its aim is to publish as much information as possible in an open, transparent and accessible manner on a routine basis. In preparing, reviewing or revising this Publication Scheme, Offaly County Council shall have regard to:
- Allowing public access to information held by Offaly County Council
- The publication of reasons for decisions made by Offaly County Council, and
- Publishing information of relevance or interest to the general public in relation to its activities and functions generally.
FORMAT AND ACCESS
In order to ensure that this Publication Scheme is easily accessible to the public it is being displayed on Offaly County Council’s website. In addition a printed version of the scheme is available to view at 24 hour’s notice during opening hours at Offaly County Council, Aras an Chontae, Charleville Road, Tullamore, R35 F893.
Information contained in the Publication Scheme is grouped into the following 6 headings:
- Information about Offaly County Council
- Functions and Public Services provided or to be provided
- Decision Making Process for Major Policy Proposals
- Financial Information
- Procurement
- FOI Disclosure Log and Information Routinely Published
This information is being provided primarily by way of a link to information held elsewhere on Offaly County Council’s Website.
- 1. Information about Offaly County Council
Provides the following information on who we are and what we do:
Offaly County Council was established under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Its role and responsibilities include:
- Providing a democratic forum for local governance;
- Delivering an extensive range of public services that are necessary for economic, social, community and cultural development within the county;
- Acting as a regulatory and enforcement authority.
Further information is provided under the following headings;
- Governance/management arrangements
- Corporate Plans and Strategies
- Annual Reports
- Organisation Structure - Provides details of heads of business units
- Pay/grading structures
- Locations and contact details for the organization
- Details of Service Level Agreements/Memoranda of Understanding
- Offaly County Council has a SLA with Irish Water in relation to the provision of water and waste water services. This SLA is provided for in the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 and facilitates the local provision of water and waste water services in partnership with Irish Water.
- Offaly County Council has entered into SLA with Enterprise Ireland. This SLA is provided for in the County Enterprise Boards (Dissolution) Act 2014 and facilitates the provision of services by the Local Enterprise Office under four headings;
- Business Information and Advisory Services,
- Enterprise Support Services,
- Entrepreneurship Support Services and
- Local Enterprise Development Service
- Customer Charters
- Codes of Practice or Guidelines
- 2. Functions and Services Provided
Information on the functions carried out by Offaly County Council and the services it provides are outlined under the following headings:
Each of these headings provides details of:
- Public services provided by Offaly County Council (or by another party on its behalf)
- How services are provided and administered
- How services may be accessed or applied for
- Fees or charges if any for access to services
- Review or appeal rights relating to services
Details of research projects undertaken in respect of functions/services, where available, are also provided.
- 3. Decision Making Process for Major Policy Proposals
Provides the following information on how we make decisions on policies:
- Major policy proposals including any public consultation exercises - Provides details relating to current proposals
- Background information relating to major policy proposals and decisions – Includes documents associated with current policy proposals that are normally released as part of a public consultation exercise
- Reports on operation of public services by Offaly County Council – Includes details of final Local Government Auditor Reports and efficiency and operational review reports that would normally be published and made available to the public
- Expenditure reviews - Includes efficiency reviews that incorporate value for money conclusions which would normally be published and made available to the public
- Policy assessments - Includes policy impact analysis reports prepared or commissioned by Offaly County Council that would normally be published and made available to the public
- 4. Financial Information
Provides the following information on our income and expenditure:
- Financial statements
- Plans for major capital expenditure - where the expenditure involved has been officially endorsed by the County Council
- Payments or purchase orders exceeding €20,000 for goods and services
- Governance board member remuneration - Provides details of representational allowances and expenses paid to elected representatives and payments (if any) made to non-executive board members on bodies/agencies under the remit of Offaly County Council
- Funding/sponsorship of non-public bodies- Provides details of grants or sponsorship that exceed a threshold of €10,000 per annum. Includes details of the name of the non-public body recipient and the amount involved
- 5. Procurement Information
Provides the following information on how we procure goods and services:
- Procurement policy - as follows
- Current tender competitions on the e-tenders website
- Public contracts awarded - Provides, on a quarterly basis, details of contracts that exceed €10,000 for information and communications technology and €25,000 for all other competitions. Includes details, for each contract, of:
- Whether it is an award for a single contract or an award from a framework
- Name and address of winning contractor
- Value of the contract
- Type of contract (works, supplies, services)
- Contract award date
- Duration of contract (in months)
- Brief description of contract
- 6. FOI Disclosure Log and Routinely Published Information
Provides the following information on FOI requests processed and other miscellaneous information that is routinely published:
- Freedom of Information Disclosure Logs - Provides details of decisions made in relation to previous FOI requests for access to non-personal records
- Offaly Information Portal - Provides access to a number of information rich resources, interactive maps and data sets about all aspects of the Count
- Reports (various miscellaneous reports)
- Commercial publications and relative charges
The following information held by Offaly County Council that is sought regularly:
