Annual Report 2012.pdf (size 5.8 MB) - Offaly County Council

Association of Irish Regions Annual Conference 16 th November 2012 1“LEADER Funding and the Councillor” 16 th – 18 th November 2012 1“Information and Communications Technology for Councillors” 23 rd – 24 th November 2012 1“Environmental Implications of harvesting Wind Energy” 23 rd – 24 th November 2012 1“The Local Government Budget 2013” 30 th Nov. – 1 st Dec. 2012 1“Rights of Way: Recent Changes in the Law” 7 th – 8 th December 2012 3“Maximising Energy Efficiency in the Local Authority” 14 th – 15 th December 2012 2Freedom of Information - Statistics:In 2012 under the Freedom of Information Act, the totalnumbers of applications were as follows:14 applications received by Offaly County Council;0 applications received by Birr Town Council;1 application received by Tullamore Town Council; and0 applications received by Edenderry Town Council.The OmbudsmanThe Council responded to the Office of the Ombudsman inrelation to Offaly County Council issues.Student Grants2012/2013 academic year saw the introduction of onlineStudent Grant applications to a single awarding authority,Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) throughwww.studentfinance.ie. Students who were currently inreceipt of a student grant and who are progressing to thenext year of the same course continued to be assessedand paid by Offaly County Council. If a student ischanging their course or progressing to a new coursethey were required to apply to SUSI.279 Student Grant renewals were awarded by OffalyCounty Council in the 2012/2013 academic year.€1,692,649.67 was spent on 2012/2013 Student Grantsduring this period. This money is recoupable from theDepartment of Education & Skills, except for a fixedcontribution made by Offaly County Council. Theadministration of the scheme is a service provided by thisCouncil to students and parents in County Offaly.Internal Audit FunctionInternal Audit is an independent appraisal function whichreviews the internal control system in operation withinOffaly County Council. It objectively examines evaluatesand reports on the adequacy of internal controls as acontribution to the proper, economic, effective andefficient use of resources.During 2012 the Internal Auditor undertook a number ofaudits and the findings and recommendations from eachaudit were reported to management. The Internal Auditoralso undertook follow up audits to assess theimplementation of the recommendations from theprevious audits.Offaly Local Authorities Annual Report 201280