Community Relations Council

Freedom of Information Act

CRC Publication Scheme

As required by section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act (2000) this Publication Scheme sets out the types of information held by the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council which it will routinely publish and make available to the public. The Scheme also specifies the format in which that information will be made available and any conditions or exemptions which might apply. The Council undertakes to review its Publication Scheme on a regular basis.

This Publication Scheme appears on the Council’s web-site www.nicrc.org.uk  and is also available on request in large print and audiotape cassette. We will also attempt to make this available in minority ethnic languages on request.

Introduction

The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council was established in 1990 as a registered charity and limited company. It acts as a development agency for peace in Northern Ireland and aims to enable change towards a society free from sectarianism. Support and advice is provided by the Council to community relations initiatives in the voluntary and community sector as well as guidance to public sector bodies addressing their ‘Good Relations’ obligations under section 75(2) of the NI Act (1998). The Council receives core-funding and most of its programme costs from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) in the Northern Ireland Executive. It also acts as an intermediary funding body (IFB) for the European Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, manages the Community Bridges Programme of the International Fund for Ireland and manages the Victim and Survivors grant schemes of OFMDFM.

Responsibility for the Publication Scheme lies with the Council’s Director of Communications, currently Ray Mullan, who can be contacted at email: rmullan@nicrc.org.uk  

Responsibility for the day to day maintenance of the Scheme lies with the CRC Website Manager, currently Patricia O’Neill, who can be contacted at email: poneill@nicrc.org.uk 

The Council’s postal address is 6 Murray Street, Belfast BT1 6DN.

Tel: 028 90 227500,  Fax:  028 90 227551.    

Classes of Information

Below are listed the types of information that are routinely available, for the most part on the CRC website:

Who we are, what we do and services we provide

Information about the nature and aims of the organization, its organisational structure, names of Board Members, list of current staff with post titles and contact details are available in the About Us section of the website.

What we spend and how we spend it

Annual Reports including audited Accounts and list of all grants awarded

are available in the Publications section of website.

What our priorities are and how we are doing

Annual Performance Reviews are published within the Annual Reports (available on the website).

An Annual Review is also published in printed copy and available in the Publications section of website.

How we make decisions

 Minutes of all Council and Council Committee meetings are published on the website.

Our policies and procedures

 Procedures and criteria for all CRC grant schemes are available from the website (under Funding)

CRC responses to public consultations are available on our website.

All CRC Press Releases are available on the website

A formal complaints procedure exists and can be accessed by clicking here

Minority Languages

Lists and Registers

A list of all CRC publications available in print or electronically can be viewed on the CRC website.

 A disclosure register of all gifts or donations received is available click here to view